Saving Us
by Kit-cat99
Summary: Sequel to Saving Me. kinda have to read that one first. Reed and Sue just had a baby, Ben and Alicia are married and have adopted...and Johnny and Merc are still just engaged. Oh right...and the planet is about to be destroyed again...go figure.
1. Chapter 1

**Saving Us**

Summary: Sequel to _Saving Me_. Roughly about two years later. Johnny and Merc are, still, engaged (not saying they haven't tried), Sue's pregnant and Ben and Alicia have successfully made it down the aisle and adopted!! But with nearly a year of inactivity and little crime fighting, the Fantastic Five team is restless. To solve the problem, new and old people come into the picture to bring their lives back to the craziness of saving the world again. But the more pressing problem doesn't seem to be the world at stake, but Johnny and Merc's relationship and her apparent fear of white dresses.

Rating: M (language, violence, mature stuff…blah, blah, blah)

A/N: I honestly didn't feel like tallying up the votes so, instead of going with my original idea that I liked (Everyone married, super powered kids, and Merc and Johnny's kid falls for the Surfer since I was planning on him returning and it be like sixteen or something years later) I have come up with a different idea. I'll probably make Doom a small part in this, not overly fond of him but really…he didn't die, just sank.

ANYWAYS!!!! On with the story!!!

* * *

"IF I HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS FOR ONE MORE MINUTE I AM FORCE FEILDING THIS KID OUT OF ME!!!" Sue screamed.

"Relax!!" Merc said. "Almost…where'd it go?"

"WHERE'D IT GO??? WHAT DO YOU MEAN!!!" Sue screamed. Johnny was so glad he didn't have to be apart of this. Poor Reed though. He had to hold Sue's hand AND help birth his child. That was the reason why Merc had learned midwife stuff.

"Sue, it just has your powers." Reed said. "Calm down."

"I'm going to kill the next person who says calm down." Sue said.

"You hear that baby…turn visible so we can save you from your mommy." Merc said. The baby did as it was told…and then went skinny. Merc and Reed looked at each other with wide eyes as Merc easily pulled the baby up and out. It cried louder then it's mother as it returned to a healthy look. "Oh boy."

"What? What 'oh boy'?" Sue asked.

"It's an invisible turning, stretching baby." Merc said.

"Oh boy." Sue said.

"No, oh girl actually." Reed said, tying off the umbilical cord and snipping it.

"See Johnny, I told you we'd wind up with a niece." Merc said.

"You'll get your fifty bucks later." Johnny said. Merc smiled and helped Reed clean up the baby before giving it to Sue and walking over to her fiancé. "If you say you want a baby I'll…yell doesn't seem strong enough."

"Hmm…don't worry." Merc said. She actually, a bit, did want a baby now but she was trying to make Johnny happy. They had gone through several attempts of weddings and each time that Merc didn't fail to show up, it had gotten interrupted by something. The last attempt was about three months ago and Merc was too busy trying to force herself into putting on the white dress (cough, of doom, cough) that she completely missed her cue at least three times before Sue came to find her.

It was safe to say that Johnny was getting pretty restless with the whole thing. Merc wanted to marry him, really she did, but something just was keeping her from it. Her parents had vanished from her life again, no big surprise there, but that didn't seem to be too big of a bother. None of them could figure out what was the matter. Merc had expressed, quite emotionally, how much she wanted to marry Johnny and wanted to be with him but it just seemed that there was some unknown thing about a wedding that was freaking her out. She had spent the time between the last failed attempt and the birth of their niece, trying to make it up to Johnny.

"So…any name ideas?" Sue asked, breaking Merc out of her thought process. She looked at Johnny and Reed then shook her head.

"Umm…nope." Merc said.

"Nothing." Johnny said. "Let's see…what goes with Richards that doesn't start with an R or S…"

"Natalie?" Merc suggested. There was a pause as everyone thought it over.

"I like Natalie." Sue said.

"Me too." Reed said.

Eight hours later…no one liked Natalie as she started to cry yet again in the middle of the night.

"Ooooh…make her stop…I have a publishing deadline coming up." Merc groaned, taking her pillow and putting it on top of her head. After the whole Surfer/Doom/Galactus problem two years ago, there was a lot of time not devoted to saving a city or country and Merc was able to focus more on her school work. A top publisher had come to one of the classes to talk to the students and had looked over a few of their work. He had liked Merc's stuff and then had offered her a job a while ago. She had been working with them for almost a year now and had her second book publishing coming up (the first was the story she had written that got her into the school in the first place).

"Yeah…at least you get to stay home for that." Johnny said, copying her. He had taken on a job doing some fire stunt work. It was perfect because he could catch himself on fire and no one had to worry about it burning him.

They had never actually managed to move into a different apartment. The only one who actually managed something like that was Ben, who took the apartment that was for sale on the floor below them when he and Alicia got married. That also got on Johnny's nerves. The fact that Pebbles got engaged and married in less time then him…

"I'm really sorry." Merc said, accidentally reading Johnny's mind.

"What…oh." Johnny said. He had gotten better at telling when she would be doing such things over the years.

"It's just a bit funny with the fact that you were such a playboy before we got together and now you're the one who's pissed off about failed attempts." Merc said, lifting her pillow off her eyes to look at Johnny as he did the same.

"I'm not pissed, Mercy." Johnny said, taking his pillow off his head and sitting up. Merc looked at him curiously as she did the same. "It's just a bit annoying."

"I know, I'm sorry." Merc said, again. "Johnny you know I love you and I want to be with you…I just don't know what my hang up is. Even that rehearsal thing didn't work." One of the failed attempts was that they had decided to make the rehearsal into the actual wedding but not bother to tell Merc. She did good up until the vows and then she couldn't speak. It didn't matter because that was interrupted by some car chase that involved a stolen armored car and about seven police cars chasing it.

"Hey, come on." Johnny said, noticing that Merc was looking close to crying. "It'll be ok."

"No it won't." Merc said.

"Mercy, it will." Johnny said, hugging her. "Come on, look at it this way. We've been living together for two years so we pretty much count as common law married now…right?"

"If that was the case then we'd all technically be married to each other." Merc said.

"I was trying to make both of us feel better." Johnny said.

"I know, I'm sorry." Merc said, yet again. "Maybe if you just…tell me that we're married and then it won't…" Johnny rolled his eyes and kissed her. Merc mumbled the next word against his lips before succumbing to the kiss.

"We have so many problems we should be on a talk show." Johnny said. Merc giggled. She snuggled against him before gasped and straightening up.

"Oh my god…talk show!" Merc said.

"Yeah, that's what I said." Johnny said.

"No, Johnny…I have that talk show interview thing tomorrow!" Merc said. "To…to…to promote the book and such."

"Oh…that would be why you wanted to go to bed early." Johnny said. Merc nodded. "Right, now I remember. God, how did we forget about that?"

"Natalie." Merc said, as the cries erupted through the halls yet once more.

"Right again." Johnny said. They both flopped down and put their pillows on top of their heads again.

"Good morning, all." Ben said, walking into the apartment the next morning. Everyone looked up from their breakfasts and glared at him. "Oh…guessing…not so good?"

"Ben…meet Natalie." Reed said, walking over with the, finally asleep, baby in his arms. "The reason for our glares."

"This cute little thing?" Ben asked.

"What cute little thing?" Alicia asked, coming in holding the hand of a little Cambodian boy. They had first just sponsored him but when Merc found out that he was able to be adopted, she talked her uncle and aunt into adopting him almost a year and a half ago.

"Hey Adrian…bet you got more sleep then I did." Merc said. She adored her cousin. They had to change his name because none of them could pronounce it (not saying they didn't try though). He had spent his fifth birthday with them and his sixth one was coming up soon.

"Why didn't you get sleep?" Adrian asked, letting go of Alicia's hand and walking over to hug Merc.

"Brand new baby thinks it's fun to cry at night." Merc said, lifting the little boy into her arms and carrying him back over to his parents and 'uncle'. "This is your new cousin, Natalie."

"Ooooh." Adrian said. Alicia careful ran her hand around Natalie's face.

"Aww she's adorable." She said.

"Mommy's got magic fingers." Adrian said. Merc smiled.

"Well at least now she's catching up to the rest of us." She said. "Without being exposed to a stupid cloud." Everyone laughed and Merc put Adrian down. "I have to get ready…stupid interview."

"When is it?" Sue asked.

"The real thing is tonight but you know…gotta get all prettied up and practiced and shit." Merc said.

"Merc!" Ben said.

"Uh…I mean and stuff." Merc said. "I'm bad at this." Everyone laughed again and this time it woke up Natalie who promptly began to cry, yet again. "There's my cue to hope in the shower." Merc practically ran out of the room.

* * *

So there's the first chapter. You have the new family members introduced. For any of you who might ask this…No…Reed will not be performing any tests on Natalie anytime soon. 


	2. Questions

**Questions**

Oh believe me…stressed out Johnny always makes things bad.

* * *

"Here you go." Sue said, putting a cup of tea in front of her brother.

"Thanks." Johnny said. "Why do you think she's so evasive?"

"I don't think she means to." Sue said. "But remember…she's young…with the way things keep going, she's not going to be able to celebrate her twenty-first birthday."

"FUCK!!" Johnny said. Sue jumped at his sudden outburst. "Her birthday is next week isn't it."

"Yeah." Sue said.

"Shit, I can't believe I forgot." Johnny said. He banged his head on the table.

"Shh!" Sue said. Johnny stopped and lifted his head. Both of them looked at the baby monitor but all they heard was Reed's snoring as it continued. He had taken Natalie up for a nap once Ben, Alicia and Adrian left and both of them wound up asleep. "Johnny maybe she's evasive because of family."

"Ben is looking just as disappointed as I am, Sue." Johnny said.

"That's not what I meant." Sue said. "I mean…look at what she has. Her parents pretty much abandon her and…you saw the look on Debbie's face on the bridge when we first changed."

"Yeah…" Johnny said.

"Debbie and Ben were saying 'together forever, no matter what' but then he changed and she…" Sue said. She sighed.

"What, so she's thinking that somewhere along the line I'll leave her?" Johnny asked.

"That's part of it maybe." Sue said. "I don't think Merc really grew up with any sort of…foundation of love stuff going for her. She just needs…time."

"She's had two years of time." Johnny said.

"I know, and I'm not understanding it either and really…little short of getting a hypnotist that will actually work on her…" Sue said. "I don't think we'll be able to find out what's wrong."

"God…I hate it so much when you're right." Johnny said, sighing. Sue just smiled slightly at him.

"Why am I the one doing this again?" Merc asked, wincing as some girl pulled on her hair.

"Because it's your book and you're hot so you can get people to buy it." Brian said. He was pretty much her boss but it was almost common knowledge that he liked her.

"Ok, again, stop there." Merc said. "Brian, how many times do I have to tell you?"

"I know." Brian said. "Can't blame a guy for trying." Merc grinned and shook her head. "Besides…harmless flirting…"

"Leads to harmful behaviour." Merc said.

"Miss Denver, you're on in five minutes." One of the stage hands announced.

"Alright." Merc said. She waved away the hair girl and turned to face Brian. "Ok…tell me that I can do this please."

"Oh come you…you know you can do this." Brian said. "Why you asking me to tell you?"

"Cause Johnny's not here." Merc said. "He would have been but since his niece was born last night…"

"Exciting." Brian said. Merc smiled.

"…and now ladies and gentleman, up and coming novelist slash superhero dancer, Mercedes Denver." Merc laughed at her introduction and walked onto the stage, waving at people in the audience.

"That's quite the introduction but I think I'll keep it off any resumes." She said. Everyone else laughed.

"Now correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't a certain someone supposed to be joining you?" The host asked.

"If you're talking about Johnny Storm then yes he was." Merc said. "Unfortunately there were some family things last night." She smiled brightly. "Sue has finally given birth to a beautiful baby girl that goes by the name of Natalie." The audience burst into applause.

"You must be excited." The host said.

"I am! I suggested the name." Merc said, smiling even more brightly. "And everyone is gonna be so high strung because she can turn invisible and stretch."

"That's going to be interesting." The host said. Merc nodded. "So…any other kids being planned in that group?"

"Again…if you're talking about Johnny and me…then no." Merc said. "Still have to get over the marriage hurdle."

"Hmm…" The host said. "Alright, let's talk about this new book of yours." Merc smiled again and went on for a few minutes about the book. "The world has remained pretty safe lately."

"Yeah." Merc said. "I've had nothing better to do but write and dance. Ever since that second shot with Doom everything's been pretty slow. I've found myself actually wishing for some huge disaster sometimes."

"Well for our sakes, let's hope your wishes don't get granted." The host said. Merc laughed. "So you going to give us a demonstration of your powers?"

"I was wondering when you were going to say that out loud." Merc said.

"Do you do card tricks?" The host asked, holding out a deck of cards.

"You know…I just might." Merc said, wiggling a finger and making the deck slide out of the host's hands. She smirked and twirled her finger, making the cards go around in a circle. "Pick a card, any card. They don't bite." The audience clapped and laughed. She did a few tricks because they finally managed to talk her into doing a dance to end the show and she wound up trying, and failing happily, to teach the host some moves.

She was worn out by the time she finally managed to get home. Brian gave her a ride and she was getting out just as a flaming Johnny touched down and flamed off.

"Hey babe." Johnny said.

"Hi." Merc said. "What are you doing up still?"

"Can't sleep without you there, remember." Johnny said.

"Right." Merc said. "Thanks for the ride Brian."

"No problem, sleep tight." Brian said. Merc waved a bit and closed the door. She watched Brian drive off then looked at Johnny.

"What?" Merc asked. "He's like my boss."

"Yeah I know, but I still don't like that he's always flirting with you." Johnny said. Merc giggled and leaned against Johnny. "Do I have to carry you?"

"Are you offering?" Merc asked, looking up hopefully. Johnny grinned and swooped her up into his arms. He carried her, bridal style, into the apartment building. "Thank you so much."

"No problem, babe." Johnny said. "You looked wiped out anyways."

"I so am." Merc said. "They had me do card tricks." She giggled and Johnny smiled at her as they entered the elevator. "And got me to dance at the end but I also tried teaching everyone some stuff…which was a total failure but a fun one."

"Glad you had fun." Johnny said.

"So what did you do?" Merc asked.

"Took Natalie out." Johnny said. "People are funny."

"Let me guess…they thought she was yours?" Merc asked.

"Yep." Johnny said. Merc smiled. "They're very slow too. Almost as if everyone forgot that Sue was pregnant."

"What do you expect from people who have to make up rumors about who's dating who?" Merc asked.

"This actually." Johnny said.

"Hmm…well between that and the show, everyone's going to know now." Merc said. Johnny looked at her. "They asked why you weren't there because you were supposed to come. So I told them about Natalie."

"Cool…saves some time then." Johnny said. He stepped out of the elevator and looked down at Merc…who was now fast asleep. "Aww…so cute. Feels like I shame that I should wake her up." Johnny looked around then empty apartment. Reed and Sue were probably out cold, along with Natalie, in their room. Something hit Johnny in the side of the head and he looked around before looking down at Merc who was shaking a bit from trying to keep in laughing. "Hey now!!!"

"I couldn't help it." Merc said. "I haven't hit you in a while."

"You're so going down." Johnny said. He dropped her onto the couch before climbing on top of her and kissing her. Merc wrapped her arms around his neck almost instantly as she returned the kiss. She forgot about being tired as she got wrapped up in the moment…that was until a light turned on and someone coughed, causing Johnny to jump and fall off the couch and onto the floor. Merc put her hand on the back of the couch and sat up to see Reed standing a few metres away.

"Hi…" She said.

"Hi." Reed said. Merc looked down at Johnny and grinned as he frowned up at her. "Was I interrupting something?"

"No." Merc said. "Just Johnny proving a point."

"I was doing what?" Johnny asked.

"My boss is a flirt and you wanted to make sure that I knew how good I had things." Merc said.

"Oh…I guess I did." Johnny said.

"What are you doing up?" Merc asked, looking at Reed. He held up his PDA. "Is there something going on?"

"It went off and I thought I'd come down here to check it out." Reed said. Johnny and Merc went with him into the lab. Merc leaned against the back of the chair as Reed searched through the possible occurrences that could have set off the alarm.

"Anything?" Johnny asked.

"Nothing that seems big enough to have set it off this way." Reed said.

"Maybe it's a false alarm." Merc said, yawning.

"Maybe." Reed said.

"Most likely." Johnny said. "Really, when you think about it, how long has it been since we had anything really worthy of us?" Merc elbowed him. "Think about it! The last time we actually had any real problem was back before Sue decided to tell us she was pregnant and we had to stop that volcano from erupting because some guy wanted to destroy the island."

"True." Merc said. "But you didn't have to make it out to sound as if the little things are too small for superpowers to deal with." Johnny nodded. Merc yawned against and stretched. "It was most likely a false alarm. Take a look back at it tomorrow. It can't be awfully important if you can't find it now."

"I guess your right." Reed said.

"Of course I'm right." Merc said. She took hold of Johnny's arm, said good night to Reed, then headed up to bed with her fiancé.

* * *

Ok so I'm not quite sure who I want to use as a new bad guy. I'm looking at the list of villains that they have and the only one I actually really know is Sandman (who was from Spider-man). So if anyone wants to suggest anything, it would be appreciated. Also I was thinking of some possible "Replacements" for Sue and Reed since they have Natalie and I don't want to make them do a whole lot of stuff. I kinda wanna bring in Spiderman (give Johnny some more competition…lol) but it really all depends on what you guys think would be appropriate. 


	3. Flirting Bug

**Flirting Bug**

Ok I will think up a bad guy. I want it to be a girl and there aren't any good ones so I'll make one up. OOOH and I so wanna bring in Spidey so that's what I'm gonna do. I have a plan now!!! Has anyone else realized that X-men, Fantastic Four and Spiderman are all situated in New York but, unless it's in the comics (or very rarely in cartoons) then they never really run into each other???

* * *

Johnny rolled over and threw his arm out, expecting it to land the warm body of his bed partner, but only to find it land on the bed itself. He opened an eye, not very used to this. This wasn't the first time for this but usually when it happens, there's a very good reason. Groaning, he sat up and looked around the room. After finding his fiancé nowhere within sight, Johnny reluctantly got out of bed and pulled on some clothes. He left his shirt unbuttoned as he walked out of his room.

"Put this here...change this over...add...no wait, take that out." Johnny grinned and shook his head as he heard Merc muttering. He walked into the lab and found her at one of the computers.

"Did Reed say you could use his fancy computers for your story?" Johnny asked.

"No but I doubt he'll mind." Merc said. "These are faster then mine. Besides, he's not even here."

"Where is he?" Johnny asked.

"He and Sue took Natalie out. Said they had something to pick up or something." Merc said.

"Gee...I wonder what they're after." Johnny said. It was Merc's birthday and so far the only one who didn't seem to realize that was the birthday girl herself.

"I don't have the time to play your guessing game, sweetie." Merc said. "This has to be done and ready for printing in two days."

"Do you honestly not know what today is?" Johnny asked. He saw Merc's fingers pause as they hovered over the keyboard.

"Wednesday." Merc said, resuming her lightning fast typing. Johnny was amazed that she could type so fast and A) her fingers didn't catch on fire or B) the keyboard didn't catch on fire. He had never seen anyone type that fast...even Reed would have some trouble keeping up with her.

"Yeah, it's Wednesday...but what date." Johnny said.

"I don't know." Merc said. She sighed and stopped, spinning the chair around to look at him. "Can't you just tell me and make it easier?"

"Does the words 'your birthday' ring any bells?" Johnny asked. Merc stared at him.

"Wait...it's what?" She asked. "Mine?" Johnny nodded. "Really?" Again, Johnny nodded. "Oh my god I can't believe I forgot."

"Me neither." Johnny said. "You're usually hinting at it for the whole week before, if not longer."

"This deadline has me stressed." Merc said.

"I thought it was done." Johnny said.

"It is...just not the way I want it." Merc said. Johnny shook his head and walked over as she turned back to face the computer. He put his hand over the mouse, hit the 'save' button, then closed down the software and popped out the disk. "HEY!"

"It's done..." Johnny said, putting the disk into a case and pulling Merc off the chair. "It's perfect...let it be." Merc opened her mouth to say something but Johnny took the opportunity to kiss her. He pulled away and Merc smiled at him. "Hey check this out...finally got it perfect last night."

"Finally got what perfect?" Merc asked. Johnny got his finger on fire and rapidly drew a heart. Merc giggled as he pretended to shoot it and an arrow went through it. "Oh my god that is so corny...but so cute." She hugged Johnny. "You are so great you know that?"

"Yeah, I do." Johnny said. Merc laughed and hit him.

"Ding dong!" Adrian said. Merc and Johnny stepped away from each other as the little boy launched himself at Merc and hugged her legs. "Happy Birthday Mercy."

"Aww thanks Adrian." Merc said.

"See...even he remembered." Johnny said.

"Enough." Merc said. They walked out of the lab and found Ben and Alicia with a huge cake in the kitchen.

"Happy birthday!" They said. Merc giggled.

"Reed and Sue out getting the gift then?" Ben asked.

"Yep." Johnny said. "Stay out of our heads Mercy."

"I'm not in them!" Merc said. "I haven't bothered with your guys' heads since my kaplooey power problem because I know Reed cooked up something to keep me out of them."

"Yeah pretty much." Johnny said.

"Do you like the cake?" Alicia asked. Merc and Johnny walked over to look at it. There were twenty-one candles in it and a picture of the Fantastic Five on it in icing.

"Wow...how much did this cost?" Merc asked.

"What makes you think we didn't make it?" Alicia asked

"Ok...you're blind and my uncle has little to no culinary skills." Merc said. "So unless my super adorable cousin has some super cake decorating powers..."

"True enough." Ben said. "It doesn't matter how much it cost."

"Do I get to light the candles?" Johnny asked.

"Yeah. We know how much you like doing that." Alicia said.

"All right!" Johnny said. Merc smiled at him.

"We're back." Sue called, walking into the apartment carrying a box. Reed followed pushing a stroller. "Where is everyone?"

"Kitchen." All five called back. Adrian laughed. The couple walked in.

"Happy birthday Mercy." Sue said, hugging the younger girl.

"Thanks." Merc said. "Don't even say it Johnny."

"Wasn't gonna..." Johnny said.

"Say what?" Reed asked.

"Everyone remembered it was her birthday except her." Johnny said. His head snapped forward and he glared at Merc as he rubbed the back of his skull. "He asked!"

"Wow, nice cake." Sue said.

"What's in the box?" Merc asked. Sue tossed it to her and Merc didn't bother to try and catch it. She just used her powers to make it float in front of her. She looked at Sue and Reed before pulling the lid off the box. "Keys?"

"What do keys go to?" Reed asked.

"A lot of things." Merc said. She took the keys out and pulled the tissue paper out as well. Underneath was a little box that held a model of a dark blue convertible. She wasn't quite sure what kind of car it was but it was still pretty amazing looking.

"You bought her a car?" Johnny asked. Merc's jaw dropped. "A nice car."

"Well there's that and going out to a bar to celebrate tonight." Sue said. "Just us girls."

"OH MY GOD I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!" Merc said. She hugged Sue then hugged Reed and then bent down and picked up Natalie to hug her as well.

"Oh sure, she gets a car..." Johnny muttered.

"Didn't have the money when you turned twenty-one but I did take you to a bar." Sue reminded her sulking brother. Merc smiled at him before throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. Johnny grinned.

"Feel better?" Merc asked, pulling away.

"Slightly." Johnny said.

"Make it up tonight." Merc said. "Right now, let's have some cake." They had pizza for dinner and then Johnny made a show of lighting the candles and Merc made an even bigger show of blowing them out (all in one try and everyone realized that she was using her powers to help out). Despite what Ben and Alicia told her, Merc gave Adrian a big piece.

It was another hour before the girls left, Johnny whining about being left behind with the 'parents'. Ben and Reed laughed at him as they each sat with their own child.

"You guys seem sort of unstable." Sue said, driving.

"Huh?" Merc asked, looking at her.

"You and Johnny...did something happen again?" Sue asked.

"I think he's just getting really annoyed now." Merc said. "You'd think after everything I've gone up against, getting married would be a breeze."

"Maybe...maybe not." Alicia said. Merc turned around in her seat to look at her aunt. "It's probably some psychological thing, Mercy."

"Yeah but...after like what...eight tries? You'd think my mind would just say 'screw it' and let it happen." Merc said. "I mean...I have nothing to worry about right? It's like...Johnny loves me, I love him...what's there for me to be so worried about? It's obviously not a sex thing because we've been doing that god only knows how..." Sue coughed and Merc stopped talking.

"Who knows what it is." Sue said. "You've known him for about eight years now...been together for two of those years...you trust him more then you trust even your uncle..."

"So what's holding me up?" Merc asked. Sue shrugged.

They put the matter behind them as they arrived at a club that wasn't too packed so it would be easier for them with Alicia. Merc was glad to finally, legally, be able to drink because she felt as if she really needed it right now to stop worrying. Sadly though, she only got one drink before her powers caught up with some trouble. With a groan, Merc told Sue and Alicia she'd be back before walking out of the club to get a better idea of what was going on. It was a lot easier because there was the sound of alarm going off down the street.

"Don't you people learn?" Merc muttered, running off in the direction. The criminals hadn't gotten far by the time she got there so it was easier to track them. "Hey, come on! I just wanna talk." She chased them through an alley and up onto a roof. "Boy you guys are dumb...really can't go far from here."

"It's only one of them..." One of the thieves said.

"Where's the other four?" Another one asked, looking around.

"Babysitting and having fun." Merc said. The thieves laughed and raised guns at her. Merc frowned as she backed away. "Come on...you don't wanna shoot me...do you think it'll even work?"

"Who says we wanna shoot ya?" One of the thieves asked. Merc frowned again. "We just wanna push you over the edge." One of them shot and Merc jumped backwards. She didn't even realize until then that she was right on the edge of the roof so when she jumped, she wound up falling. What was worse was that she couldn't get herself.

Although she didn't have to. Something grabbed her and flew up into the air. Merc yelped and hid her face at the sudden change of motion.

"Hey, hey...don't worry, I've had enough practise with this." A male voice said. "Not like I'm gonna drop ya."

"That's not what made me yelp." Merc said, lifting her face and looking at the person who had grabbed her. "Red and blue? All you need now is white and you could turn yourself into some American hero thing."

"That idea has crossed my mind." The man said. "So what were you doing falling?"

"Trying to stop a couple of bozos." Merc said. "But they backed me up then one shot and I jumped. I didn't have time to get myself into any sort of self saving position."

"Not from that high up...you wouldn't have done any good to yourself." The man said, still swinging through the air but Merc barely even noticed. She mock glared at him as she heard him laugh.

"Hey...I've done it before." Merc said.

_Ok sure._ The man thought.

_Oh I so have, so don't even think that I wouldn't have managed it then._ Merc thought. She laughed as the man jumped so badly he almost let go of her.

"How did you..." He asked.

"I'm Mercedes Denver, youngest member of the Fantastic Five." Merc said.

"Ooooh...that explains it." The man said. "You can just call me Spiderman."

"Ooooh...didn't recognise that before." Merc said. "Hard of ya but aren't you basically kind of on the other side of New York?"

"Usually." Spiderman said.

"Umm...you realize that you're like...web slinging me further and further from where I should be right?" Merc asked.

"Oh...sorry." Spiderman said. He chuckled. "Hold on." Merc put her arms around his neck then gasped as he spun them around in one big circle and went back the other way.

They made small talk on the way back before Merc decided just to get dropped off at the Baxter and she carefully texted Sue about it. She got a reply back that the older women would meet her there. They landed on the roof.

"Beats any other form of transportation huh?" Spiderman said. Merc laughed and nodded.

"That's what Johnny says." She said. "Except he can't carry things...what with being on fire and all." Both of them laughed. The door opened and Johnny came outside.

"Thought you were out celebrating." He said.

"I was." Merc said. "Then there were some robbers and I chased them down but then they kinda pushed me over the edge of a roof and Spider here swung in to the rescue and gave me a lift home." Merc and Spiderman looked at each other before laughing.

"What?" Johnny asked.

"Just something we were talking about before." Merc said. Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"I better get going." Spiderman said. "I guess I'll see the two of you around some other time."

"Yep." Merc said. "Thanks again."

"That's what I'm here for." Spiderman said. He went off and Merc walked over to Johnny.

"What?" She asked.

"Oh nothing." Johnny said. "Just you so obviously flirting with him."

"What?" Merc asked.

"You know what I said, Mercy." Johnny said, going back inside.

"Unbelievable!" Merc said, following him. Reed and Ben were out cold on the couch. Adrian was playing some video game and Natalie was asleep in a playpen. "I wasn't flirting! He saved my life and we talked as he brought me back home...we had a little inside joke!"

"Yeah, ok." Johnny said.

"How the hell can you accuse me of flirting with someone when I tell you at least five times a day that I love you more then anything?" Merc asked. "You are such a jerk sometimes!!" Ben woke up and looked at them.

"Well at least I'm not flirting with every masked person out there." Johnny said.

"Apart from criminals, how many masked people are there?" Merc asked. "You know, if it wasn't for the fact that we willingly showed off our powers on the bridge then no one would know who we were because we probably would be wearing masks too!!"

"You're just changing the subject." Johnny said.

"Yeah, because this one is ridiculous!" Merc said. "I was not flirting with him!"

"Oh please, you used to flirt so much you didn't even know you were doing it!" Johnny said.

"Yeah...USED TO!!" Merc said. "Past tense!" Reed woke up then and Ben quickly shushed him before he said anything. "Case you haven't noticed...I haven't been such a flirt since I started dating you!!"

"What about 'Norrin'?" Johnny asked, air quoting the name.

"Oh my god, do not start up on that again." Merc said. "That was two years ago, right after I got my powers back and you were just finishing being all avoid-y! And I wasn't flirting!! I was being friendly ok? The guy saved..."

"Everyone saves your life, Merc!!" Johnny said.

"You haven't." Merc said. They glared at each other before Johnny turned around and continued farther inside. He went around a corner and they lost sight of him but heard a door slamming above them. "Jerk."

"What was that about?" Ben asked. Merc told him about Spiderman and what had happened.

"Well he does sort of have a point." Reed said.

"Yeah...too bad he didn't give me the chance to tell him that Spidey is with someone that he's loved forever." Merc said. "And that he knows that I love Johnny more then anything." The men looked at each other then gave Merc sympathetic looks. She was crying by the time Sue and Alicia finally showed up.

* * *

Well there's the third chapter. No new bad guys yet but there will be one. There's going to be a few more bumps along the way between Merc and Johnny and then something very interesting is going to happen, followed by another very interesting something.


	4. Switch

**Switch**

Ok so this chapter is gonna have some funnies in it.

* * *

Merc and Johnny barely spoke to each other for three days. They were so distracted being mad at each other that they were of no help when it came to stopping some jewellery thieves. Johnny made a wise ass remark about how Merc could just flirt with them to make them stop and the two of them started arguing so loudly that the thieves overheard them and managed to get away before the others could apprehend them.

On the fourth day after her run-in with Spiderman, Merc was walking along the streets; occasionally being stopped by people but otherwise was left to her own devices. She was too caught up in her own thoughts that she bumped into someone and both of them fell to the ground.

"Oh…sorry." Merc said. "Usually I'm good at not walking into people."

"That's ok." The man she walked into said. "Same here just a bit busy thinking."

"Yeah." Merc said. She looked at the man she walked into. "Do I know you?"

"Maybe." He said. _Wait if she can read minds then she'll know I'm Spiderman and…_

"Oh hey!" Merc said, smiling.

"Mind reading?" He asked. Merc nodded. "Peter Parker."

"I'd introduce myself but you already know it so there's no point." Merc said. They finally stood up. "So what are you up to?"

"Just walking really." Peter said. "Thinking about stuff. MJ, the girl I told you about, me and her are slowly getting back together."

"You do what I told you?" Merc asked. Peter nodded. "Good."

"So what about you and Torch?" Peter asked.

"Not so good." Merc said. "We got in a fight after you left and we've barely spoken since then. We were arguing so loudly the other that the criminals we were trying to get managed to get away."

"That's bad." Peter said. Merc nodded. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Not unless you tell him your gay or something." Merc said.

"I don't think that'll happen." Peter said.

"Didn't think so." Merc said. She sighed. "I just gotta clean up this mess on my own…somehow. It doesn't help that I have to spend more time with my boss now because of the whole book thing and practically everyone knows that he likes me. I'm laying odds that, if I told him how bad things were, he'd see it as his chance to try and move in."

"Yeah, now it's really bad then, huh." Peter said.

"Bad doesn't even begin to define it." Merc said. "God, Pete, what am I gonna do? It's seriously bad enough that I have a weird wedding-phobia. My uncle got engaged and married AND adopted a kid all within the time that me and Johnny have been engaged."

"Uh…wedding-phobia?" Peter asked.

"I'm good with being a bridesmaid." Merc said. "I just…can't be the bride. I can make it through the rehearsals and everything but I just can't do the real thing. Either I run away from it or I spend too much time forcing myself into getting into the stupid dress that I miss my cue…or I freeze up and can't say any vows or…I just can't do it."

"Maybe you're just afraid of the dress?" Peter asked.

"One of the tries didn't involve any white dresses." Merc said. "There was no white anywhere. Even the guys' shirts had to be coloured. And I still didn't manage it. Two years now, we've been engaged and have gone through so many attempts and nothing had worked. And to top it off, now that Sue has Natalie, even though she cries an awfully, I kinda want a kid but Johnny doesn't want any right now so I don't want to do anything else to…"

"I'm getting the picture." Peter said. Merc sighed. They walked into a coffee shop and sat down. "You're in quite a mess here."

"I know." Merc said. "I don't know what to do. We're both too stubborn to talk to each other so there's no real way either of us is going to apologise anytime soon."

"And the mess gets bigger." Peter said. Merc smiled slightly.

"Ok enough about my problem. How are things with you?" She asked.

"Ok, I guess." Peter said. "I told you about the MJ stuff already." Merc nodded. "Nothing else really. Except a made a few burglars look like they were in cocoons."

"Sounds like fun." Merc said, absently twirling the straw around in her cup.

"Some of them tried running." Peter said, watching her. Merc nodded. "And your hair is changing an ugly grey colour."

"That's nice…wait what?" Merc asked.

"Just making sure you were listening…and you're not." Peter said.

"I'm sorry, Pete." Merc said. "I guess I'm more distracted by all this then I thought."

"Maybe you should talk to him." Peter said.

"Yeah and say what?" Merc asked. "I'm not gonna give him that satisfaction. I'm not the wrong one here. I wasn't flirting with you."

"Is that what this is about?" Peter asked. Merc nodded. "Want me to talk to him or something?"

"Nah…I'll deal with this myself." Merc said. "But thanks anyways." Her phone went off and Merc looked at it. "Oh…gotta go, trouble is a-brewing. Here…" She quickly wrote her number down. "If you need me for like any reason like…if you wanna get MJ something and need a girl's opinion."

"Thanks." Peter said. "I'll keep that in mind." Merc left.

It didn't take her long to find the others and things were going relatively fine with the apprehending until Merc and Johnny started arguing about where she had been. She absently flung her hand out and used her powers to drag back one of the bad guys as they tried to run. She held him against the wall, making him drop the weird gun thing in his hands. Sue, Reed and Ben all shouted as Merc and Johnny got shot with some ray but they didn't seem to notice but just kept on arguing.

Reed insisted on a scan of both of them to see if there was anything wrong but he couldn't find anything. They went off to their separate rooms and Sue flinched as the two different doors slammed at different times.

"How much longer are they going to be like this?" She asked.

"I dunno." Ben said. "But I hope they stop soon." Sue nodded. She went with Ben down to his apartment in order to get Natalie. For having a blind woman and a five year old boy…they did pretty well at watching the new baby.

The next morning Sue and Reed were sitting in the kitchen, debating on whether or not they should wake up Merc and Johnny. They heard Johnny scream and looked at each other before hurrying to his bedroom.

"Johnny? What is it?" Sue asked.

"Wha…I don't know…and…what did you call me?" Johnny asked.

"Uh…Johnny." Sue said.

"Does anyone know why I woke up in Merc's bedroom?" Merc asked, walking into the room and rubbing her eyes.

"Uh…" Sue said. Johnny screamed again.

"WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING OVER THERE?!" He asked.

"WHAT THE FUCK!!" Merc yelled.

"Two very good questions." Reed said.

"What the hell did you do?" Johnny asked.

"Me? I didn't do anything!" Merc said.

"Ok, ok, hold on." Sue said. She looked at Merc. "Who are you?"

"I'm the tooth fairy, who the hell do you think I am, sis?" Merc asked.

"Well you look and sound like Merc." Sue said.

"Great…this is just what I need." Johnny said. "Flame boy in my…do we still have our own powers or did they switch too?"

"They stayed with the body." Merc said. "God this is giving me a headache."

"Try living with it twenty-four seven." Johnny said. He finally got out of the bed. "This can't be happening."

"Why?" Merc asked.

"Hello…did you forget I had that meeting with Brian and the book cover artist today?" Johnny asked.

"Well then cancel cause I sure ain't going in there with your boss being the way he is towards you." Merc said.

"Johnny you have to." Johnny whined. "This artist is really well known and it took a lot of time and persuasion to get her down here."

"Guys…" Sue said.

"Well then you're screwed because I don't know anything about the book so I can't do anything." Merc said.

"Guys…" Sue said.

"How the hell can you not know anything about it?" Johnny asked. "I told you about it like ten times."

"GUYS!!" Sue said.

"What?" The bickering duo asked.

"Both of you go." Sue said. "And…Johnny can just…read Merc's mind as she thinks of stuff and then vocalise it for her."

"Do I have to?" Merc asked.

"Yes!" Johnny said. "This is huge! I don't wanna have to have anything delayed. Johnny please."

"Fine…just don't whine in my body." Merc said. "Shower and change and I'll meet you downstairs in half an hour."

"Deal." Johnny said.

(((A/N: I hope that bit didn't confuse anyone. From now until I switch them back, I'm just gonna write their name. So instead of writing the name of the person who's body it is, it's gonna be the person inside the body. I.E: Merc's body talks…I write Johnny…and vice versa.)))

"Could you have put any more clothes on?" Merc asked, looking at her body that had on a zipped up hoodie and jeans. Everything but the face and hands were covered.

"If it stops Brian from flirting with me then yes." Johnny said. "Do you know how wrong that is going to be?"

"What did you put on under the hoodie?" Merc asked.

"A t-shirt." Johnny said. "But all you have are low v-neck ones."

"Gee…I wonder why." Merc asked, sarcastically. "Who's the one that just loves seeing me in them?"

"Just keep your eyes on the road." Johnny said.

"My whole wardrobe is 'Johnny-friendly' which means that most of the stuff is going to show off skin." Merc said, turning a corner. "Look let's just get through this and then we can hide in the apartment until Reed and Sue figure out a way to switch us back."

"Deal." Johnny said.

"You also have to…kinda hug Brian." Merc said.

"What? Oh no, no way." Johnny said.

"I always do it. Just friendly, three second hug." Merc said.

"Why?" Johnny asked.

"Because that's what I do." Merc said. "You should know that." Johnny sighed and dragged his hands through the long blonde hair currently residing on his head.

"Alright, fine." He said. Merc pulled into a parking spot and they got out of the car. Johnny looked at the body he possessed before sighing and taking off the hoodie. It was far too hot for it anyways. Merc grinned at him.

"There's my favourite author!" Brian said, coming up to them as they walked into the building.

"Hey Brian." Johnny said, trying to sound cheerful as he allowed the other man to hug him.

"I guess you guys patched up your little fight." Brian said. The couple nodded slowly. "Well then…Johnny if you don't mind just sitting out here for the time and…"

"I want him to come in too." Johnny said, frowning. Brian looked between the two then shrugged and turned to lead them into another room.

"Merc this is Shauna Morgan." He said. "Ms Morgan this is Mercedes Denver and Johnny Storm."

"Such a pleasure to meet you." Shauna said. Merc narrowed Johnny's eyes at the woman. She was hot to say the least. Merc wasn't quite sure what to do, being in Johnny's body she really couldn't do much.

_Jealousy doesn't suit you._ Johnny thought.

_Well take a good look at whose body I'm in, giving those looks._ Merc said. They sat down and talk was turned to the cover. Merc kept her mouth shut and let Johnny use her powers to read her mind and dictate what she wanted. She kept looking up to see either Brian looking at her body or Shauna looking at Johnny's body.

Johnny wasn't having fun with this either. He could hear Brian's thoughts about his fiancé and he had to keep telling himself that he couldn't throw fire at him. He also couldn't help but start thinking about why Merc had chosen to stick with him for so long. Brian was thinking of all the rotten things Johnny had done to Merc, trying to understand why the girl was still with him. And now that he thought about, Johnny couldn't come up with an answer. All the times he had abandoned her and yelled at her and everything else he done. He was suddenly very glad he had Merc's powers and she didn't because he knew that she would hear him thinking about what he had done a while ago that only Ben had found out about and the uncle had actually threatened to clobber Johnny into icky paste if the younger man hadn't told Merc. Although…as far as Ben knew, Johnny had told her and neither man was willing to bring it up to the psychic so Ben swiftly pushed it out of his mind.

"Mercy." Merc said, suddenly. Johnny shook her head and growled at the hair as it fell into his face. "You were asked a question."

"I was? Sorry." Johnny said.

"You weren't reading our thoughts now by any chance, were you?" Brian asked, teasing.

"Maybe…" Johnny said.

"Well there's good news." Shauna said. "Unless there's something else you want to add to this, we're done here." Johnny reprised sighing in relief but Merc did it for him. "So I'll draw up a rough sketch, photocopy it then send it to you and Brian and see what you guys think."

"Sounds good." Johnny said. He shook the woman's hand.

"It was nice meeting you, both of you." Shauna said, leaning over and shaking Merc's hand with a grin. Johnny raised an eyebrow as Merc slid her hand away, holding something. He had seen and done this gesture many times to know what it meant. There was a bit of small talk and then the couple left.

"So?" Johnny asked. Merc opened her hand and a little piece of paper caught on fire and burnt up. "I see."

"Oh yeah as if I was going to keep it." Merc said. "I'm not about to let you know the number of some other girl you've met through me."

"I wouldn't have even wanted it so don't get all crazy." Johnny said.

"So how'd it go?" Sue asked, once they got back.

"All good except Johnny spaced and I had to fill in a few questions." Merc said. "Did you guys find out anything?"

"No luck." Reed said, shaking his head.

"Why'd Tinkerbelle space?" Ben asked, ready to hear about the younger man probably staring at some girl.

"I don't know." Merc said. "He was just staring at the table. What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing." Johnny said, quickly.

"Are you hiding something from me?" Merc asked, suddenly, crossing Johnny's arms over his chest.

_Shouldn't have anything to hide._ Johnny heard Ben think. Johnny looked over at the rock then quickly dropped his gaze.

"Don't say it…don't you dare even think it!" Ben said, suddenly extremely angry.

"What?" Sue asked.

"You never told her didn't you?" Ben asked.

"It…never…really came up." Johnny said.

"Johnny…" Ben growled.

"What?" Merc asked this time.

"It's not that big a deal!" Johnny said.

"Not that big a deal…IT'S A HUGE FUCKING DEAL!!!" Ben shouted. Johnny and Merc winced.

"What is he talking about?" Merc asked.

"Well…uh…" Johnny said. He looked at Ben.

"Oh no, I ain't doing it. Like I told you last time, you have to tell her." Ben said.

"Tell me what?" Merc asked, now almost as angry as her uncle. She accidentally set a chair on fire. "Shit! I'm sorry, Reed."

"It's ok, don't worry." Reed said, putting the fire out with his hands that he had stretched. "Johnny, maybe you should tell her."

"Maybe you should tell all of us." Sue suggested.

"No way!" Johnny said. "I'm gonna have hard enough time…" Merc turned around and went up to the rooms.

"Tell her." Ben said.

"But…" Johnny said.

"Do it!" Ben said. "I'm not gonna threaten you with the whole 'do it or I will thing' because you seem to think it'll be easier if I do it."

"Hey…at least she can't really hurt you." Johnny said. "She can burn me to a crisp."

"She wouldn't do that to her own body." Reed said, looking back at all the data, trying to find a way to reverse what had been done. Merc came back down, this time wearing one of Johnny's uniforms. "Where are you going?"

"Away." Merc said, heading towards the window.

"Mercy, come on." Johnny said.

"No…I don't need to listen to you." Merc said. She went out onto the balcony and flamed on, flying off.

"FUCK!" Johnny shouted, kicking over a stool, loudly. A cry erupted from the other room and Sue groaned. "Sorry."

"She was playing calmly." Sue said before walking over to take care of her child.

"I need to take a walk." Johnny said, turning back towards the elevator.

"Johnny…" Ben said.

"I'll talk to her!" Johnny said. "Just…not right now. When both of us have cooled off."

"He makes a point." Reed said, watching Johnny leave. Ben rolled his eyes but nodded. Even without powers those two could do some serious damage to just about anything when they were mad at each other and choose to fight it out rather then cool off.

Johnny walked around through the streets. He knew that if he was getting odd looks it was probably because he was more then likely not walking like a girl.

"Hey!" Someone called. Johnny didn't pay attention, almost certain that it wasn't someone calling him. "Hey, Merc!" He again didn't stop, until he remembered that he was currently in his fiancé's body. He slowed down and some guy came up and stopped next to him. "Whoa…are you mad or what?"

"Uh…yeah." Johnny said, trying to figure out who this was.

"I'm guessing Johnny did something again?" Ok so this person knew about the problem…s.

"Yeah." Johnny said, sighing.

"What happened?" Peter asked.

"Well I wouldn't…I mean, he wouldn't tell me something." Johnny said. "And her…my uncle knows but he wouldn't say it either."

"Uh huh." Peter said. He raised an eyebrow. _I guess this would be a bad time to think about what we did the other day…_

"What did you do with Merc?" Johnny asked, completely forgetting about whose body he was in.

"Nothing…just talked." Peter said. "I swear. Working to hard to get back in the all good area with MJ to even think about. But you just proved something."

"What?" Johnny asked.

"You're not Merc." Peter said. Johnny sighed. He put a hand on his forehead then pulled it through Merc's hair before looking at Peter.

"Where's a good place to talk?" Johnny asked.

After quite an awkward moment after Peter suggested web slinging them onto a roof, Johnny chose to take the ladder and Peter just crawled up from the alley wall (after making sure no one was around of course). Johnny then told him about the ray, getting shot with it, then waking up in Merc's body and all the mess that happened that day. By the time he got up to the point were Peter had caught up to him, he was starting to understand why Merc inevitably liked him.

"So what exactly did you do that her uncle threatened to, pretty much kill you because of?" Peter asked. Johnny really wasn't willing to share it but figured that it was better to ask this guy for advice then someone who knew them well. So he told and Peter just stared at him for a while.

"Ok stop." Johnny said.

"Sorry but that's…that's bad." Peter said. "How come you never told her?"

"How the hell am I supposed to?" Johnny asked. "Has she not told you of the countless times my jealousy has started numerous arguments? If she ever found out about that then I'll…she might…"

"Leave you?" Peter asked. Johnny nodded. "I don't know her well enough to say that she won't but from what I've heard, she's stuck with you through quite a bit. But your right…don't know how she'll react to this. You went and did the one thing that you have accused her of a few times without actually having proof."

"I'm not good with relationships." Johnny said. "I think Merc is really the first real one. We've been friends for years then we were together then engaged for the last two years. I just…I just can't imagine living my life without her here anymore."

"Well you guys have gone through a lot." Peter said. "You've endeared her boyfriends, she's gone through all your 'girlfriends'. But from what I understand, you two always put each other first."

"Yeah like…back when we were at the med center at the Von Doom place…" Johnny said. "If I had any inclination that she wasn't feeling good at all, I wouldn't have gone off snowboarding. But she looked fine, she felt fine, she seemed fine…and she said that she was ok but just didn't feel up to going so I went without her."

"Yeah…times like that." Peter said. "I think you just need to suck it up and apologise."

"But…" Johnny said.

"You're expecting to marry you." Peter said. "You're gonna need to learn to do it a lot when it finally pulls through."

"God no wonder Merc likes you." Johnny said. "You're just about the only thing that really makes sense in our crazy lives."

"I try." Peter said.

* * *

Holy shit, look at that!!! This is like my longest chapter ever! Wooo, go me!!. Ok so if it hasn't already been made clear by now, in the next chapter we're all going to find out what Johnny did….(dramatic music plays). 


	5. Hardest Thing to Say

**Hardest Thing to Say**

Yep...play boy ways definitely took over. Bravo everyone that figured it out.

* * *

Ben had to remind himself that it was his niece in the boy's body as it sat staring at a box that Reed had told it to look at so as not to catch anything else on fire should the intensity of its gaze prove to be too strong.

And sure enough, the box caught on fire. Sue took a hand off the baby and created a force field around the box before shrinking the field in order to put the flames out.

"Sorry." Merc said.

"It's ok." Sue said.

"God…why is it so easy to say for little things?" Merc said. She huffed and sat back against the couch. "Stupid pride." The elevator opened and everyone but Merc looked over to see Johnny walk in, tugging on the t-shirt.

"I hate being a girl." Johnny said.

"Not very easy is it." Merc said, without looking. Johnny looked like he wanted to retaliate but he just sighed. Ben looked curious.

"Mercy, can we talk?" Johnny asked. Merc finally looked back at him before sighing and getting up. They went into her bedroom.

"He's gonna tell her." Ben said.

"Tell her what?" Sue asked.

"What he did." Ben said.

Johnny was sitting on the bed and Merc was leaning against the wall.

"You realise that every time you say we have to talk we always wind up being quiet?" Merc asked.

"Yeah." Johnny said. "Just trying to work it up."

"Work what up?" Merc asked.

_Apologise first then tell her. Maybe kiss her after apologising THEN tell her._ Johnny thought to himself. There was no way he would be sharing that with Merc and she didn't have a way to figure it out…yet.

"Johnny what is it?" Merc asked, looking worried. She walked over and sat next to him.

"I have something to say that you'll want to hear and something you probably won't want to hear." Johnny said. Merc nodded. "The first thing I have to say is that I'm sorry for the way I've been acting. I'm just not used to the whole relationship stuff lasting this long you know?" Merc nodded again. "And then seeing you with other guys and you're smiling and happy…there are so many reasons for us not to be together. So many reasons for you to dump me. But I'm gonna try to change that though. I love you so much Mercy and I just can't imagine not having you in my…" Merc didn't let him say the last word because then she put her hand on his cheek and kissed him. Johnny mumbled the last word before kissing her back.

"Whoa, light headed feeling." Merc said, pulling away and finding herself looking at Johnny's body. "Wait a second." She looked down to see her own body. "WE'RE BACK!!"

"YES!!" Johnny said, hugging her. Merc giggled. "Hold on a second." Johnny kissed her again for a few seconds. They were still in their own bodies when they pulled apart. "Thank god."

"So what was the other thing you were going to tell me?" Merc asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Huh?" Johnny asked.

"You know…you said there was something you had to say that I'd want to hear and something I probably wouldn't want to hear." Merc said.

"Oh…umm…well…" Johnny said. "You won't like me afterwards. You'll probably go straight back to hating me."

"Oh…well then maybe you shouldn't…" Merc started.

"No, Mercy…Ben's right." Johnny said. "I have to tell you this." Merc looked at him. Johnny took a deep breath. "Remember that wedding try we had were there was absolutely no white allowed?"

"Yeah…" Merc said.

"And you didn't show? You just sorta…hid out at Ben and Alicia's place." Johnny said. Merc nodded. "Remember how mad I was?"

"Yeah…Johnny I said I was sorry and…" Merc said. Johnny held up a hand and Merc stopped. He had to finish this. Merc couldn't figure it out though. That attempt was at least…nine months ago.

"You know how I left for a while and came back kinda…" Johnny said.

"Drunk?" Merc suggested, remembering seeing him the following morning very hung over.

"Yeah." Johnny said. "That's it. Well…umm…you know…upset guys…drinking…there usually is some…uh…good looking female involved and…"

"Oh no." Merc said. "You didn't."

"Um…tell me what you're thinking and I'll tell you if you're right." Johnny said.

"You fucking slept with her." Merc said.

"I guess you'd be right then." Johnny said. Merc looked very close to crying then. "Mercy I swear I didn't mean to! I was drunk…I was mad at you."

"Was she the only…" Merc asked, not quite able to get the last word out.

"Yes, god, I swear." Johnny said. Merc closed her eyes. Johnny could tell that she was going through a wide range of emotions and he knew what one she was going to wind up with.

"I can't believe you go and do that and have the nerve to bitch at me just because I'm laughing with some other guy!" Merc shouted, standing up. "You're an asshole! Why the hell didn't you tell me this before?"

"I didn't want something like this to happen." Johnny said.

"How the hell did my uncle find out?" Merc asked. "Wait no, never mind. I know the answer. I told him to go look for you. I guess he found you in a very awkward position."

"No he didn't! He…afterwards…" Johnny said.

"Did he see her?" Merc asked.

"No." Johnny said. He stood up and put his hand on Merc's shoulder but she pushed it off and backed away.

"Don't touch me!" Merc said. "God! You make me feel so bad for not giving you the wedding you want and you're the one who has hidden this shit from me through the last…five attempts! And you have the nerve to get upset with me every time I can't make it!" She turned around and left the room.

"Merc…Mercy, come on!" Johnny said, following her.

"Leave me alone!" Merc said. The other three looked up at them. "I can't believe you Johnny Storm. You've done some messed up things before but this is the worst."

"Worse then me wanted to recharge my phone using my powers?" Johnny asked.

"THIS IS A HUNDRED TIMES WORSE THEN THAT!" Merc shouted, spinning around. "Do you have ANY idea of how bad I felt? So many times I did stuff, I said stuff just to make you happy because I thought…I don't know what I thought but the fact is it should be you doing all that. You should be the one feeling bad about what you've done. I don't even flirt with those guys. Either they flirt with me or it's just being nice."

"I know…" Johnny said.

"Do you really?" Merc asked. "Because you never showed it." She took a deep breath, tears running down her face. Johnny looked so miserable at the fact that he had made her cry…AGAIN. He wanted to hug her and he almost would have if Merc didn't put her hands up to stop him. "I love you Johnny but…I just can't be around you right now. I have to…I have to think about this." Johnny looked at her. There were so many things he could have done at that moment. A few of which involved begging. But all he did was nod. "Can you stay with you and Alicia, Uncle Ben?"

"Sure Mercy." Ben said. Merc walked around Johnny and back up to her room. Johnny went to the couch and sat down on it. Sue sat next to him and put her hand on his back but Johnny brushed her off. No body said anything, even after Merc came back down. There were some nods and then Ben and Merc left and it was still silent. Even Natalie seemed to realise what was going on and didn't cry…vocally. She had silent tears on her face.

"What did you do?" Sue asked, quietly.

"I cheated." Johnny said, after a minute pause.

"Oh." Sue said. "Yeah, I guess that explains it."

"Explains what?" Johnny asked, looking at his sister finally.

"Well…there's a lot of stuff from you that Merc can manage." Sue said. "She's been through the majority of your bullshit and has still stuck by you. But I guess this is something she just couldn't put up with."

"Yeah." Johnny said. "God, how could I do that? How can you still be this nice to me?"

"I'm your sister." Sue said. "I'm mad at you for what you did to Merc, all of it…but I'm still here for you."

"God…Susie…what am I gonna do?" Johnny asked.

"Give her time then find a way to make it up to her." Sue said. "That's all you really can do." Johnny sighed and nodded. Sue and Reed took Natalie up to their room to leave Johnny alone for a while.

He had to figure this out on his own.

* * *

So now they're back in their own bodies and Merc is still mad at him. What should Johnny do to make it up to her?? Any suggestions? 


	6. Friendly Talks

**Friendly Talks**

Things are gonna start getting even more bumpy. Well actually, they're gonna be ok for a bit and then bumpy again.

* * *

He leaned back in his chair, the tips of his fingers pressed together as he watched the screen monitors before him. He looked up to the top row of five screens. Each had a different person and the monitors below held footage of each person. He looked from the monitor of the youngest male, over to the monitor of the female. He looked down at the current camera watching her, sitting in a room with a little boy playing by her and a baby in her arms. Her blonde hair was being pulled by the baby at the moment.

The man smiled. This might turn out to be easier then he thought. With the group already in such a state of disarray, it would be much easier to break it even farther apart with just one simple little thing. And all he needed…was to gain that girl's trust.

"Natalie…ow." Merc said, trying to pry her hair out of the baby's grasp. She pulled and Natalie's arm stretched. The baby laughed. "Natalie, this isn't funny."

"Want some help?" Adrian asked.

"Please." Merc said. Adrian come over and took Natalie's fingers and peeled them off his cousin's hair. "Thanks."

"No problem." Adrian said. He went back to playing with the train set Johnny had gotten him last year for his birthday.

"So what would you like this year?" Merc asked. Adrian's birthday was coming up pretty soon. They basically jumped from her birthday almost straight into his.

"I don't know." Adrian said. "I already gots what most kids want."

"What's that?" Merc asked.

"You guys as family." Adrian said.

"Well my dear cousin, you just earned yourself a buck." Merc said. She dug into her pocket and handed over a dollar. Both of them laughed and Adrian took it when he knew she was being serious. "Come on, there's gotta be something."

"I still want what I wanted last year." Adrian said.

"Oh…" Merc said. Adrian had asked if he could have powers too. It got to the point where he had to be constantly monitored so that he wouldn't sneak into the machine and then Reed had to put a special lock on it to keep him out. Merc wasn't quite sure why they still even had the thing other then the fact that she knew Reed was a packrat and didn't through things away.

"You gonna say I can't right?" Adrian asked.

"Yeah, I'm sorry." Merc said. "We don't know if that thing will give powers. We just know it takes them away or enhances them. We don't know what it'll do to you and your dad would literally kick my ass for letting you go in there."

"I'm the only one that doesn't have them though." Adrian said.

"Your mom is power free." Merc said. "She's just blind so the other senses are kinda in hyper drive." She sighed. They had had this talk last year as well and it seemed to be repeating itself. "How about asking Reed and Sue for some…special gadgets or something? So that way you're kinda like us but not quite there yet."

"You think they'd do that?" Adrian asked.

"Well…they might make up a starter kit or something." Merc said. "Maybe give you like little foam balls or those orange darts to use for some things at first so it'll probably seem like a toy. But they might give you some really cool things in a year or so."

"Oh." Adrian said, smiling. Ben and Alicia had already hammered it into his head that, while toy weapons were cool, the real things were really dangerous. But Adrian loved toy guns and the bow and arrow set he had. "So when is everyone getting back?"

"Well your parents not for another while. They had some party to go to." Merc said. "But Natalie's mommy and daddy should be home within the hour and I should have her in bed by then."

"And Johnny?" Adrian asked.

"I don't know." Merc said. Because of the fact that she was supposed to put the baby to bed, Merc was sitting in the top floor of the building (IE. Reed, Sue, Johnny's place). She figured she was bound to run into Johnny.

They hadn't talked much for a few days now. If they were in the elevator together or passed each other in the lobby, they talked about little things…weather, news, crime…it was almost as if they were building their relationship back up but they hadn't even quite reached the friend level yet. Merc really wanted to talk to him but she just couldn't. She had been living with her aunt and uncle the whole time.

"I'm gonna put Natalie to bed. Will you be ok here by yourself for a bit?" Merc asked, quietly. Natalie was asleep now in her arms.

"Yeah. I like this show." Adrian said, watching the TV now. Merc smiled and carefully stood up. She brought Natalie to Reed and Sue's bedroom and put the baby in her crib. She watched as, every so often, Natalie would turn invisible for a moment…almost as if every inhale turned her invisible, every exhale turned her visible. Merc laughed slightly before leaving the room. She closed the door slowly, leaving it open a bit, then turned and jumped, slapping one hand over her mouth and the other over her chest.

"Jesus, you almost gave me a heart attack." Merc said.

"Sorry." Johnny said. "Saw Adrian downstairs and he said you were up here putting Natalie to bed." Merc nodded, dropping her hands to her sides. Johnny looked a little banged up. Merc remembered that he had work that day so that probably explained it all. "How was she today?"

"She was good." Merc said, glancing over at the door leading to the sleeping baby. "Only real problem was when she pulled my hair and then stretched her arm as I tried to pull it out of her hand."

"Yeah, she does that to Sue quite a bit." Johnny said. They stood kind of awkwardly, both wanting to hug or kiss the other but neither quite sure about it. Merc avoided entering Johnny's head because she didn't want to hear what was going on inside.

"Well uh…I should probably…get back…down to Adrian." She said.

"Yeah…don't…uh…wanna leave him alone too long." Johnny said. "Might figure out the password to the machine."

"Yeah." Merc said, nodding. They stood for a bit longer before Merc finally walked around him.

"Merc…" Johnny said, suddenly, turning around. Merc turned to look at him. "I love you, ok?"

"Ok." Merc said, nodding again. "I love you too." She then walked down the stairs to rejoin her cousin.

The next day Merc was leaning against her car. A few feet from her was a redheaded woman. Merc would look at her every so often but not really pay too much attention. She was more interested in the fact that Peter had said that she would finally be able to meet MJ and that was almost all Merc could think about. She needed to put a face to the person that her new friend loved so much.

"Who are you waiting for?" Merc looked over at the redheaded woman to see her looking her way.

"My friend." She said. "He's probably off doing some last minute job thing."

"I know how that feels." The woman said. "I'm waiting for my boyfriend." Merc frowned in a thinking way. "He said he had someone he wanted me to meet and…"

"Are you MJ?" Merc asked, suddenly.

"Yeah, Mary Jane Watson. How do you know?" Mary Jane asked.

"I'm Mercedes Denver." Merc said.

"Oh the author!" Mary Jane said. Merc nodded. "I loved your book, it was great. Your also part of the Fantastic Five right?"

"Yep." Merc said.

"I guess we're meeting without Peter's help." Mary Jane said, stepping forward. Merc shook her hand, smiling.

"I guess so." She said.

"Sorry I'm late." They both looked over at an alley to see Peter coming out of it. The girls laughed.

"Hey Pete." Merc said. "We were just talking about you."

"Turns out we didn't need you here." Mary Jane said, smiling. "Oh, red and blue."

"What?" Peter asked.

"Buttons." Merc said, pointing at Peter's shirt. He looked down and quickly did up the top few buttons to hide the top part of his costume. "Why do hide it?"

"Do you know how many still don't like me?" Peter asked.

"I'm guessing there's a few." Merc said. "I'm surprised people don't hate us. With all the city damage we've done when fighting Doom…"

"That's not fair." Mary Jane said. "They destroy public property and people still love them. You don't destroy anything and there are people that still don't like you."

"It's New York." Merc and Peter said together. All three of them laughed.

"So…what's on the agenda?" Merc asked. "I can't stick around for long because Reed is making us go to some Science party or something."

"Right, you guys are honorary guests." Peter said.

"Pete got us tickets." Mary Jane said. "So we'll be there too."

"Oh, cool then." Merc said. The three of them walked around, Mary Jane between Peter and Merc. The two girls were talking so much, Peter probably could have disappeared and they more or less wouldn't have noticed. Mary Jane gave Merc some advice about the whole Johnny thing. She gave her the whole 'forgive but don't quite forget' thing.

"If you wanna be with him…you know he wants to be with you…" Mary Jane said. Merc nodded. "Then be with each other. This split doesn't seem to be helping anyone."

"Ok so what about the wedding thing?" Merc asked.

"Have you guys ever done your own vows?" Mary Jane asked.

"Ye…no, actually." Merc said.

"Maybe that's it." Mary Jane said. "Traditional vows obviously don't seem to work for you two and even just jumping to the end doesn't work."

"Yeah." Merc said. "Are you guys going to be married any time soon?"

"Pete just asked." Mary Jane said, showing the ring. "So I think we'll wait for a bit."

"How about we make a deal." Peter said. Both girls looked at him as they stopped walking.

"What kind of deal?" Merc asked.

"You marry, we'll marry." Peter said.

"Huh?" Mary Jane asked.

"I think he means that once I finally go through it, then you guys will." Merc said.

"Oh." Mary Jane said. "That actually sounds like a good idea."

"But what if I never manage to go through with it?" Merc asked.

"You love Johnny right?" Mary Jane asked. Merc nodded. "And you want to marry him." Again, Merc nodded. "So now that there's more, relatively speaking, at stake…then you should be able to go through it somewhat easier then ever before."

"Wait so you're saying that I'll force myself to make it through a wedding, just so that I can make sure you two do?" Merc asked. Mary Jane and Peter nodded. "Hmm…that actually does make sense. Ok, let's do it. But if something else major happens then the deal is off alright?"

"Uh…ok." Mary Jane said. They stopped for lunch and then walked back to Merc's car. Since Mary Jane took a taxi and Peter web slung his way there, they both had to get in with Merc…and the girls continued to talk with Peter only occasionally speaking up about something.

* * *

Hey I actually can do it. Write a chapter with very little Merc/Johnny interaction. I don't think I could have managed it if there was no interaction. 


	7. Old Faces

**Old Faces**

Well then time for Johnny and Merc to…kinda make up. Lol…yeah right like I'm gonna make them completely back together again with all forgiven.

* * *

Merc, looking slightly bored, stood between Ben and Johnny up a small stage as Reed was giving some kind of speech. She looked down at the table right up at the front where Alicia sat with Adrian and Natalie. Adrian looked just as bored as Merc felt. She crossed her eyes as Reed continued to talk. She didn't understand science babble and just about everyone knew that. She had about as much chance of understanding what Reed said as Adrian had of ever getting superpowers. It wasn't that small of a chance but it wasn't very likely to happen anytime soon.

_How much longer?_ Merc thought, glancing over at Johnny.

_Shouldn't be too much longer._ He thought back. _The speech is only about ten minutes and thirty-seven seconds long._ Merc turned her head and looked at incredulously. _Reed's actually timed it._

_Oh._ Merc thought._ Ok well that explains it. He's only been talking for about nine minutes now so he should be done soon right? Please tell me he'll be done soon._

_Yeah, he should be._ Johnny thought. Merc looked back at her cousin and grinned at him. He smiled back. She looked around and spotted Mary Jane and Peter near the back. She waved slightly at them and they waved back. Merc heard clapping and looked around. Everyone in the hall was clapping and she smiled slightly as she looked at Johnny.

"It's over?" Merc asked.

"Yeah, it's over." Johnny said. Merc herself clapped. Johnny laughed slightly and shook his head. He was confused as to why she was acting like this since whenever they were near each other they seemed pretty tense now. Merc seemed as relaxed as she's ever been with him. The other three got off the stage and Merc grabbed Johnny's hand and led him over to where her friends were.

"Hey, Mary Jane, this is Johnny Storm." She said.

"Hi, nice to meet you." Mary Jane said, shaking Johnny's hand. Her engagement ring catching Johnny's eye and he smiled.

"I guess we're…sitting here then?" Johnny asked, raising an eyebrow at Merc.

"Yep." Merc said, almost forcing him into the chair next to Peter. She sat down and instantly leaned over to talk with Mary Jane.

"They spent the whole afternoon talking…what else could they possibly have to discuss?" Peter asked, looking from the girls to Johnny.

"You got me." Johnny said. "I'm stilling playing catch-up as to why Merc isn't so tense around me anymore."

"Mary Jane talked to her." Peter said. "Told her some stuff. Me and her have been through a rough patch as well recently."

"Oh." Johnny said.

"Hey!" Merc said, catching the boys' attention. "I'm gonna go get some drinks. You two want anything?"

"Umm…I'll just have the same as you." Johnny said. Peter shook his head. Merc nodded and stood up, she kissed Johnny's cheek quickly before heading over to the bar. Johnny looked at Mary Jane. "I don't know what you've told you but you are now one of my favourite people."

"Thanks." Mary Jane said, laughing.

"Hey, can I get a water and two cokes?" Merc asked.

"Sure thing." The bartender said. He handed over three glasses. "Can you carry those yourself?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Merc said, smiling. She handed over some money and then caused the glasses to levitate in front of her. She turned around carefully and almost walked into someone. "Oh…sorry."

"No, no it's my…Merc?" Merc looked at the guy she nearly walked into.

"Oh my god Max! Hi!" She said. "Oh…I'd hug ya but I kinda gotta focus on the glasses full of liquid. Umm...come with me to my table."

"Sure…you want some help?" Max asked.

"Nah, I'm good." Merc said. They walked back over to the table and Merc set the glasses down. Johnny looked up to say thanks but stopped when he saw Max. It took him a minute to recognise him.

"Max Simmons." Johnny said.

"Hey, Johnny Storm. Long time no see." Max said, smiling. Johnny only half-heartedly returned it. Max had been one of Merc's previous boyfriends but he had up and left for the peace corp. or something. Merc seemed perfectly fine with the break-up and Johnny guessed that she really was with the way she was acting now.

"So wow…you look good…how long have you been in town?" Merc asked.

"Oh about three weeks now." Max said. "And you gotta be kidding…with this scar, I don't look good."

"I was trying to overlook it." Merc said, smiling slightly. Max had a scar from his forehead, down across one eye and ended on his cheek. "How'd you get it?"

"It's a long boring story." Max said. "Tell me about you, what have you been up to…apart from being turned into a mind reading superhero."

"Well I've been with Johnny the last two years." Merc said. "Actually engaged the whole time." She held up her hand to show off the engagement ring she still wore.

"Still have that phobia huh?" Max asked.

"Still?" Johnny asked.

"Yeah." Merc said. Johnny wasn't sure how to react to that. He had never known that Merc had an odd phobia of being married until they started the wedding trials. But yet Max knew which made no sense because Johnny had been Merc's best friend when she had been dating Max and he had known everything…well maybe not everything but he surely should have known about this.

"So who are your friends?" Max asked.

"Oh this is Peter Parker, he's a photographer for the Daily Bugle." Merc said. "I myself do not read it but you might."

"Oh yeah." Max said. "Bunch of stuff on Spiderman in there."

"Yep." Peter said.

"And this is his fiancé Mary Jane Watson." Merc said. "She's an actress."

"I guess that's fun, huh?" Max asked. Mary Jane smiled and nodded. Merc finally resumed her seat between Johnny and Mary Jane. "Hey Merc, listen, I gotta jet but give me a call and we can have lunch or something and catch up, alright?"

"Sure." Merc said. "Here." She set up her cell phone to the phone book and handed it over so Max could put his info in. He handed it back and left. Merc looked carefully at Johnny as she put her phone away.

"I guess you guys really did break off on good terms." Johnny said.

"Yeah, I told you it was fine." Merc said. "If you think about it, I was the one that dumped him."

"Oh." Johnny said. "What does he mean though…about you still having the wedding phobia?"

"Didn't I tell you about not liking weddings when we were younger?" Merc asked.

"Apparently not." Johnny said.

"Oh…well it was just something that I had because I was afraid to wind up like my parents." Merc said. "Honest. I was too young to even be thinking about marrying Max. I couldn't even imagine myself with him after a year…maybe two tops."

"Oh." Johnny said, looking a bit happier. "So…no thoughts of…"

"No, I don't want to get back with him." Merc said. "I want to be with you, no one else. Do you finally understand that?"

"Yeah." Johnny said. "I'm sorry...for everything." Merc smiled.

She moved back in the next day. Reed and Sue took Natalie out for the day so Johnny and Merc were able to spend the whole day alone in the apartment. This involved taking many breaks between moving stuff around. Merc had decided that she wanted to move her furniture around so they had done some…experimenting on where the bed felt most comfortable. After all that was done, they sat down in the kitchen and Merc watched with a bemused expression as Johnny cooked up something for them to eat.

"Since when do you cook?" Merc asked.

"Sue started teaching me once you moved." Johnny said. "I burned a few things but that's only because I got mad at it and flamed everything. I'm pretty good at making hamburgers and stuff. Don't need a barbeque." Merc laughed and Johnny put a plate of food in front of it. "It's not gonna kill you."

"Hmm…I don't know about that." Merc said. "I mean…it wouldn't surprise me." Johnny shook his head and ate. Merc smiled and ate as well. "So…still think I'm trying to flirt with Pete?"

"Nope." Johnny said. "Guess I should tell you that while I was in your body I talked with him."

"Oh really." Merc said.

"Yeah." Johnny said. "And now seeing him last night with that Mary Jane…"

"They're cute." Merc said. They were quiet for a bit, eating.

"I still don't like Max." Johnny said.

"Johnny…" Merc said, grinning a bit.

"I'm serious." Johnny said. "There's still something about him that I just can't stand."

"It's been five years." Merc said.

"Yeah I know but that's not changing anything." Johnny said. "There's just something…I don't know what it is but I don't like it."

"I'm not gonna drop you for him." Merc said. "I think the ring here proves that very well."

"Still doesn't stop guys from trying to get with you." Johnny said.

"Do I ever notice those guys?" Merc asked. "Considering the fact that you've been my longest relationship ever, someone would think that you would figure that out by now." She got up, using her powers to pull Johnny's chair back, then plopped down on his lap. "What have you got to be so insecure about? You're super sweet, a really great guy and you're mega hot."

"I'm also, as you've pointed out numerous times, a jerk." Johnny said.

"I look past that." Merc said, kissing him. Johnny wrapped his arms around her. Merc pulled away after a while. "See, that's another reason. You're a great kisser."

"Any more reasons?" Johnny asked.

"Hmm…maybe." Merc said. "But we've already done that like five times today."

"So what? We have to even it out." Johnny said. Merc giggled.

* * *

Ok so I think I have another person to bring into this story but I'm not quite sure yet. I'll think about whether or not I should. 


	8. Delayed Reaction

**Delayed Reaction**

Ok so my attention hasn't been on this story lately. It's really only been on my Harry Potter fic and my Covenant fic.

* * *

"Well what if we tried what Reed and Sue did?" Johnny asked.

"Johnny…we tried that." Merc said. "Right before the last 'save a country' job happened." She rested her head on Johnny's shoulder, her legs across his lap. "This is so hopeless. We've tried everything."

"Hey now…there's gotta be something." Johnny said, running his hand along the outside of her thigh. "There's usually always something."

"Yeah…something normal." Merc said, looking at the magazine.

"Huh?" Johnny asked.

"Huh? Oh…nothing." Merc said, shaking her head. Johnny raised an eyebrow. "I was just speaking without thinking."

"Yeah, you're good at that." Johnny said. Merc rolled her eyes and grinned. "Maybe we should stop thinking about weddings for a while."

"Really?" Merc asked. Johnny nodded. "Ok." She threw the magazine onto the table "What are we gonna do for Adrian's birthday?"

"Umm…take him to Chucky Cheese?" Johnny asked.

"Are you saying that because you actually want to take him…or is it just an excuse for you to go and beat some kids at some games?" Merc asked.

"Umm…both?" Johnny asked. Merc laughed. "So what do you think?"

"Sure why not." Merc said.

"When are you supposed to meet Max?" Johnny asked.

"Umm…in an hour." Merc said. Johnny just nodded. "Guess I should get ready. Can't really walk around town in my pyjamas now can I?"

"Well you could but I don't want you to." Johnny said. Merc giggled and got up. Johnny pulled her back down and kissed her. Merc smiled and pressed her lips against his. She pulled away and stood up after a while.

"I really gotta go, hot shot." Merc said.

"Fine." Johnny said.

"What are you so grumpy about? You get to baby sit Adrian and play video games all day." Merc said.

"Oh yeah." Johnny said, a smile appearing on his face. Merc laughed and went to get dressed.

"So how has life been treating you?" She asked, sitting in the coffee shop across from Max.

"Pretty good most of the time." Max said.

"Obviously not when you got that, huh?" Merc said, looking at the scar.

"No, you're right there." Max said, laughing. Merc smiled and looked out the window. "So…how long before you guys got engaged were you and Johnny together?"

"Umm…a few months." Merc said. "We kinda went official after beating Doom, broke apart for a while when I had to get my powers taken away because they were killing me."

"Damn." Max said.

"Yeah." Merc said, nodding. "They we had a 'talk' and I hit him without actually touching him so we found out that my powers were returning. The machine Reed had built had only put up a barrier to them and they were breaking it down."

"Guessing they weren't killing you this time though, or else you wouldn't be here." Max said.

"Right." Merc said. "Well anyways the Silver Surfer guy arrived, abducted me and held me captive for like a day. Then I got out and found out that since Johnny had contact with the surfer, he could switch powers with the rest of us through touching. Things were a bit crazy in that department. Anyways the army needed Reed's help to track down the surfer so he builds up some stuff and we tracked him to London. Then Reed built these globe things that would create a pulse strong enough to get the surfer off his board. While activating them, I had a bit of a chat with him and then he protected me from some missiles. Oh…and by the way, at this point, Doom is back but seemingly human."

"How did he come back?" Max asked.

"No clue." Merc said, shrugging. "But he could do it again. I mean…Johnny said he just fell into the water and kinda sank. Of course that's all the way in china so who knows." Max nodded. Merc took a sip of her drink and looked out the window. "Well anyways…since the army captured the surfer, they kinda held us imprisoned. Johnny switched powers with Sue then with me then Sue again so that his sister had my powers, he had his own, and I had hers. I went to find the surfer because I had to talk to him, find out why he kidnaps me one day and then saves me another. I got some info out of him before I had to return to the others and got my powers back. Then we broke out and found out that Doom had killed the General and stolen the board."

"Let me guess…you guys then broke out the surfer because…" Max said.

"Because we figured he was the only one who knew how to control it because the board was the beacon for some planet eating thing called Galactus." Merc said. "And it was coming that day to eat the planet. Well we go flying through the air in our nifty car thing and then since it's me and Norrin, the surfer, in the middle section, I have to fly the damn thing when Reed splits us apart in order to evade Doom more easily." She looked back at Max and was silent for a bit, remembering the whole fiasco. "Well I couldn't fly it fast enough at one point so Doom managed to hit us and we went down in China town." Both of them laughed a bit at that. "I blacked out for a moment and when I came to, Norrin wasn't in the car but standing a few feet away and Doom was coming at him with some spear like thing. Well I forgot my powers have little to no affect on the user of the board so I ran out, stood in front of Norrin and tried to stop Doom but got stabbed right here." She pressed her fingers in the middle of her torso, just under her chest.

"That would have killed anyone." Max said.

"It did." Merc said.

"So…wait…how are you here then?" Max asked.

"While I was dying, Johnny had taken everyone else's powers and was fighting Doom." Merc said. "When he finally managed to get the bad guy off the board, it returned to Norrin who stepped back onto it. I was dead at this point but he did something that healed me and brought me back, but it took a lot of his power to do. Johnny flew after him as Norrin went up to defeat Galactus. They could all see it coming, like some giant black cloud dropping down to earth."

"Well I'm guessing he did it then." Max said. Merc nodded. "And you came back to life and…then Johnny proposed?"

"Not quite yet." Merc said. "Reed and Sue got married and then we had to go save Venice like right away. Well a few weeks later, after saving Hawaii from some trouble, we were having a party on the beach. Johnny asked me if I wanted to walk with him and I said sure. The other four followed after us…"

"Four?" Max asked.

"Yeah." Merc said. "Reed, Sue, Ben and Alicia. Well we stopped after a distance and Johnny got down on one knee and did the whole professing his love thing and then asked me to marry him. I said yes and…here we are, two years later, about a dozen attempts and still engaged. Just getting over a really bad fight too but all's good now."

"Sounds like you've been busy." Max said.

"For the last year really it's just been working on books." Merc said. "The whole planet seems to be staying out of trouble. And since there's Spiderman around to help take care of the crime fighting load then there's not too much to do now-a-days but write."

"Yeah, I can see that." Max said, looking down at her hand. Merc looked down and realized she had written a bunch of words on her napkin, far from neatly but still partially legible. She laughed a bit and stuff the napkin into her purse. One of their phones rang and both checked them. It was Max's. "Hello? Hold on…" He put his hand over the bottom of the phone and looked at Merc. "Be right back."

"Ok." Merc said, nodding. Max got up and walked outside. Merc started drawing little things on a new napkin. Her phone vibrated against her thigh. She took it out of her pocket and read the text message. "Damn." She got up and headed for the door. Max came in at that moment.

"Hey there's something I gotta deal with at work." He said.

"No problem, I gotta go…do work." Merc said. "City being attacked…the psychic is needed." Max smiled and shook his head. "So I'll talk to ya later then."

"Yeah, sounds good. Have fun." Max said.

"You too." Merc said, rushing out the door.

"How do I always get thrown through windows or into walls?" Johnny complained, sitting on a table with his shirt off and arms held away from his body as Merc knelt behind him and very carefully pulled pieces of glass out of her fiancée's back and sides.

"I don't know but that must have been pretty thick glass." Merc said. "I mean…it tore through your uniform and got stuck in you." She sat back on her heels, her eyes scanning over the damage. "Ok, I think we're good."

"Finally…half an hour of you telekinetically pulling pieces out." Johnny said. "You'd think it'd be less time then that since you were using your powers."

"Yeah but if I pulled out a few pieces at a time then you'd be in a lot of pain." Merc said. "This isn't like a bandage. Doing it fast won't be less painful." She got a wet cloth and ran it over his back, washing off the blood. Johnny winced a few times. "How's that front of yours?"

"It's good…it was safe from the glass." Johnny said. Merc nodded and started wrapping gauze around him. "You and your first aid skills are amazing."

"Oh sure, now you appreciate them." Merc said.

"Hey, I appreciated them when you had to give me mouth to mouth because you thought I wasn't brea-…umm…" Johnny said. Merc looked at him.

"Wait…when was that?" She asked.

"Oh you know, back after you had learned it all." Johnny said. "I kinda…pretended to drown just to freak you out."

"Oh so what you're saying is that you had a crush on me long before we went into space." Merc said.

"Well…yeah." Johnny said. "Why else do you think I would have flirted with you from time to time?"

"Because you flirt with everyone?" Merc asked.

"Point taken." Johnny said. Merc secured the wrap and put her arms over Johnny's shoulders, her hands resting in the middle of his chest. Johnny turned his head to look at her. "So what do you want to do now?"

"Hmm…I don't know." Merc said. She moved so that she had a leg on either side of Johnny. "I think we should do something…just the two of us."

"Hmm? Like what?" Johnny asked. "What's there to do?"

"I don't know." Merc said. "Something normal maybe like…umm…"

"A date?" Johnny asked. Merc looked at him. "We never really went on one of those, now that I think about it."

"Really?" Merc asked.

"Yeah." Johnny said. "I think the closest thing we had with just the two of us was that trip to the movies that we never finished because of that power attack of yours."

"Wow…you're right." Merc said.

"So how about it?" Johnny said. "We go on a date at…seven."

"Sure." Merc said, smiling. They kissed lightly.

"Maybe this is what you need." Johnny said. "Some normalcy in your life. Maybe it'll make some difference in the way you view marriage."

"Hmm…maybe you're right, hot shot." Merc said.

* * *

Ok so I'm gonna post their date next chapter. Oh I think I'll make it very cute. 


	9. Dating

**Dating**

Well it's time for the long awaited official first date of Johnny and Merc!! Took them long enough though. Only known each other for about eight years, engaged for two of those years.

* * *

"So where are you taking her?" Reed asked, leaning against the wall as he sort of helped Johnny get ready.

"Places." Johnny said.

"Fair enough." Reed said. He raised an eyebrow as the younger man failed yet again at tying his tie. "Do you honestly not know how do to that?"

"When have you ever seen me wear one?" Johnny asked.

"Point taken." Reed said. "So why start now then?"

"Because I have them?" Johnny asked after a brief pause.

"Fine then." Reed said. His arms stretched out and pushed Johnny's hands out the way before doing the tie for him.

"Thanks." Johnny said. "Still think that's creepy though." Reed chuckled.

"Ok, hair done, make-up done, now picking out a dress." Sue said, looking at the different options laid out on Merc's bed and hanging around various spots of the room. Merc walked out of the bathroom with her robe on, her hair up in a high ponytail and enough make-up to be noticeable but not overly so. "Do you have straps or strapless for bra?"

"Strapless." Merc said.

"Ok so that didn't narrow down the options." Sue said. Merc looked around her room and put a few things away. "That helps."

"Figure we'll go with a red or black dress." Merc said. Sue nodded. "This seems way too easy."

"What does?" Sue asked.

"Getting ready for a date." Merc said. "I haven't been on that many because either Uncle Ben scared the guys or Johnny did if he had reason to."

"Maybe being engaged for two years and then going on a date with the guy you're engaged to just seems…I don't know." Sue said. Merc laughed.

"We've been engaged for two years and you only now decide to give me that speech?" Johnny asked, staring at Ben as the rock man sat in front of him. "Wait…didn't I get that speech when me and her started hanging out?"

"Yep." Ben said. "Used the same one through all of the guys."

"Well you didn't say anything when I proposed to her." Johnny said. Ben just shrugged.

"My uncle's weird." Merc said, walking over with Sue. Johnny smiled at her as she wore his favourite dress which was also the one he helped pick out the previous year. It was a dark red colour that tied behind her neck, barely reached her knees, and hugged the curves beautifully. "And very overprotective."

"I have reason to be." Ben said. "Just be glad Alicia is blind because I'm pretty sure she would be taking pictures otherwise."

"Oh thank god." Merc said.

"Let's go…I have reservations you know." Johnny said. Merc grinned at his eagerness. They went off and the first thing they did was go to a restaurant. Not just any restaurant, but their favourite one. It was the one Johnny always took Merc to before they became a couple, when they were just normal people. They had been there so many times that practically everyone that worked there knew them.

"Wow…we've been engaged for two years and are having our first date now." Merc said. Johnny laughed. They were sitting across from each other in a semi-circled booth. "We're crazy."

"Well if it helps you out, then you know I'm willing to do just about anything." Johnny said.

"Oh really? And what's the draw back line?" Merc asked.

"Well it would probably be killing someone." Johnny said. "Unless, you know…it's Doom." Merc grinned. "I'm serious…I bet if I went hot enough I probably could have melted him into some…icky metallic goo."

"You probably could have." Merc said, nodding. "Of course we don't know if you can go any hotter then super nova."

"Sure, spoil my little happy though." Johnny said. Merc smirked and winked. "Remember the first time I brought you here?"

"Yeah." Merc said. "I had just broken up with my boyfriend and you had found this place a few days before. So you suggested that we come here because it was hidden and wouldn't be overly crowded."

"Yeah because you hated crowds." Johnny said.

"I guess that could be some reason why I got the after affect from my powers." Merc said. Johnny was silent for a second before nodding. "What were your reasons for why we go the powers that we got again?"

"Well for Ben it was because he was always a hard ass." Johnny said. "Reed was always stretching for the stars I guess…Sue was easy to see through…I, of course, was and still am hot…and you…" Merc raised an eyebrow. "Actually…I don't think I had a reason for you."

"I thought it was because I was so good at reading people." Merc said.

"Maybe." Johnny said. Merc rolled her eyes and kicked him under the table. "Hey!" She did it again. "Be careful Mercy."

"Or what?" Merc asked.

"You won't get the rest of the date." Johnny said.

"Actually I think that would be more of a punishment for you." Merc said. "Afterall…dates always end with a kiss."

"God I hate when your right." Johnny said. Merc laughed. They finished eating and left.

"So where to now?" Merc asked.

"Well…there's going to a movie…but we never seem to have good luck with those do we?" Johnny asked. Merc smirked and shook her head. They have never once made it all the way through a movie in a theatre. "How about dancing."

"Dancing? You?" Merc asked.

"What do you mean by that?" Johnny asked, getting into the car at the same time as Merc. "I can dance."

"Oh I know you can dance." Merc said. "But you show off all the time too. I mean, come on, that's how you wound up dating Emily a few years ago."

"You release that we're on our first date, but we're engaged and now we're talking about our exes." Johnny said. Merc laughed. "Ok well…how about we just go to the beach then for a while?"

"Sure." Merc said. Johnny drove, even though it was Merc's car. She honestly didn't mind. There were just some things he was better at…and one of those was driving any kind of car really fast and carelessly and keep it (and its passengers) perfectly safe. They got to the beach in no time. Merc came up with an idea. She kept the lights on and the turned up the radio.

"You and you're crazy occasionally girlie ideas." Johnny said, smiling. Merc smirked and got out of the car. Johnny was standing in front of it so she took a few quick steps then jumped at him, successfully knocking him onto his back. She leaned over him, her hands on either side of his head.

"This was a good idea." Merc said.

"Glad you liked it." Johnny said. "Next time you wanna show your appreciation though…try not tackling me into the sand." Merc giggled and lied down fully on top of him. "So we just gonna lie here?"

"Yep." Merc said, rolling slightly so that she could look at the sky.

"Ok then." Johnny said.

They stayed there for a few hours before heading home. Merc was woken early in the morning by Johnny. He didn't answer her questions but just dragged her out onto the roof and pointed over at the sunrise. Merc smiled slowly and leaned into Johnny's embrace as he stood behind her with his arms encircling her.

Neither of them noticed the camera like object watching them. The person watching the camera slowly tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair, watching the couple. Then, very slowly, he smiled a sadistic smile.

* * *

Sorry about taking so long with this chapter. Couldn't really think of anything. 


	10. Something to Do

**Something to Do**

Ok so I really don't have much to put in this spot this time so…on with the story!

* * *

"Don't go too far!" Ben yelled.

"Yeah, dad, I know!" Adrian yelled back, running over to the jungle gym. Merc laughed and shook her head. She shoved her hands in her pockets and started walking with her uncle.

"So how was the date?" Ben asked.

"It was great." Merc said. "We went to our favourite restaurant for dinner and then hung around at the beach for a few hours."

"Sounds like you had fun." Ben said.

"Yeah." Merc said. "But the thought of marrying still gets to me."

"Give it time." Ben said.

"Have you heard anything from my parents?" Merc asked. Ben shook his head. "Didn't think so."

"You think that might be your issue?" Ben asked.

"My parents? Why would it?" Merc asked.

"I don't know." Ben said. "It could have something to do with it. Maybe not too big of an issue. I mean really…every time you talked about what you wanted for your wedding since you were about ten, you were always saying that you'd rather have me there instead of your dad."

"Yeah." Merc said. "Because I saw you more. I was always so afraid that he wouldn't show up. Afterall…he wasn't even there when I was born." Ben shook his head. "But you were…you've always been there for me."

"That's what I'm here for." Ben said. Merc smiled and leaned against him slightly. "Adrian, come on!!"

"Hold on!" Adrian yelled.

"We're gonna leave without you!" Merc said, turning around to look at her cousin.

"You wouldn't!" Adrian yelled. Merc turned back around.

_Just keep walking_. She said to Ben. They continued on. Adrian yelled at them and it wasn't long before they heard him running up behind them.

"Quit doing that!!" He said.

"You've done it before?" Ben asked.

"Yeah…Johnny and I did it at the mall before." Merc said. Adrian ran on ahead of them.

"That wasn't nice." Ben said. He watched Adrian carefully. "Maybe you two don't need to be married."

"Huh?" Merc asked.

"You and Johnny." Ben said. "There are people out there that never marry but are really happy."

"Like who?" Merc asked.

"You watch the damn show an awful lot." Ben said. Merc frowned. What show was he…OH!!

"Right…Gene Simmons." Merc said.

"The man keeps going on about how they aren't married." Ben said. Merc giggled and nodded. "Well…maybe…how many tries have you guys done already?"

"God…I lost count." Merc said. "I think we're maybe at twelve…who knows." Ben chuckled.

"So what's going on tonight?" He asked.

"I have work." Merc said. "The studio needs me to fill in for one of the hip hop teachers. At least I think it was hip hop. Oh well…I know pretty much all the types and I can just get the kids to help out if I need it."

"Yeah." Ben said. They were quiet for a while. "So…what about Max?"

"What about him?" Merc asked. She had seen Max earlier that day for brunch.

"Nothing, just curious." Ben said. "It's not everyday one of my niece's ex-boyfriends come back into the picture."

"Well that's the thing." Merc said. "He is an ex and he's never gonna be…un-ex-ed." She frowned. "Did that make sense?"

"Yeah." Ben said, laughing a bit. "You know…in a way…I sorta knew, even though I hoped against it before, that you and Johnny would be together."

"What? So you made me go through all that trouble of dating bozos?" Merc asked, joking. Ben laughed.

"Is she calling Johnny a bozo?" Adrian asked, coming back to them.

"No…I'm calling other people bozos." Merc said. "You know Johnny's a lunatic." Adrian nodded. "Want a piggy back?"

"Yes!!" Adrian said. Ben lifted him onto Merc's back and they headed back to where the car was. It was Ben's car (which had to be custom made for obvious reasons).

"Oh, you're back." Sue said. "The studio called." Merc looked at her as she stepped out of the elevator.

"Yeah? What's up with them?" She asked.

"They want you in a bit earlier." Sue said. "I was about to call your cell phone."

"Ok…that's no problem for me." Merc said.

"What's no problem for you?" Johnny asked, coming into the room.

"Going to work a bit earlier." Merc said, kissing him quickly.

"Right…you work at the studio today." Johnny said.

"Yep." Merc said. "Where's Reed and Nat?"

"Sleeping." Sue said, smirking. "It's a good thing we don't have any major problems. I just bet Reed wouldn't last anymore."

"Yeah…he takes that whole 'sleep when the baby sleeps' thing to a different level." Johnny said. Merc smiled and went into the kitchen. Johnny followed and watched as she started making something to eat. "So how has your day been so far?"

"Hmm…ok." Merc said. "Really didn't do too much with Max. He seemed really distracted. The walk with Ben was nice. We talked about you and me."

"Oh? What's he say about us?" Johnny asked.

"Well he brought up the fact that some people never marry but are still really happy." Merc said. "I asked who and he pointed out Gene Simmons."

"You realize that he's like the only celebrity that you've wanted to meet but haven't so far?" Johnny asked.

"Yeah I know." Merc said. "Kinda sucks."

(((A/N: I watch Gene Simmons Family Jewels just a little too much now. Lol.)))

"When are you gonna be done work?" Johnny asked.

"Shouldn't be later then eleven. I mean…the studio closes at eleven so it can't be later then that." Merc said. Johnny rolled his eyes and grinned. "Umm…I think it's room twelve I'm in. It's one of those double digit ones."

"Well there's only the three of them." Johnny said. Merc nodded. She got all her stuff together and then headed out.

Merc walked into the room and stopped. Half of the kids were dancing to the Soldier Boy song. She stared at them.

"Now why can't you lot do that good with everything else?" Merc asked, walking further into the room. She made the player turn off and the dancing kids groaned. "Enough. I know it's a popular song and dance. Why the heck can't you guys learn this stuff as quickly and correctly as you learn that."

"Well..."

"Umm…"

"I guess…"

"Dunno." The kids all said. Merc rolled her eyes and smirked. She started working with them and for a few hours they did nothing but dance. By the time they were finishing up, she saw that they had a guest.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Merc asked, walking away from the group and over to Max.

"Just thought I'd come see what you do." Max said. "You know that secretary is kinda slow."

"Trust me, she's gotten better." Merc said, smiling. She turned around. "Ok gang that was great…make sure you tell your actual teacher what you got done today so that she can continue on."

"So…substitute dance teacher." Max said. Merc shook her head, grinning. "That sounds weird. How are you going to put that on a résumé?"

"Leave out the substitute part." Merc said. She started packing things up. While her back was turned, she didn't notice Max get an odd look on his face, something that seemed almost feral as he sniffed the air. The eye that the scar ran over twitched and then he smirked. "Don't you have something to do tomorrow? You can't honestly have all day everyday off." She turned to look at him. He seemed normal now as he smiled pleasantly at her.

"Yeah but I don't have to be anywhere until later." Max said. "What about you?"

"Some book thing or another." Merc said. "It's either a signing, a public speaking…or Brian finally got the cover art for the next book." Max smiled more at her.

"Sounds like fun." He said.

"Oh yeah, loads." Merc said. The door opened up and Johnny came in. He stopped when he saw Max then turned his eyes to Merc.

"Hey babe…ready to go?" Johnny asked.

"Umm…yep." Merc said. "I'll talk to ya later alright Max?"

"Yeah." Max said, nodding. "Good night."

"You too." Merc said. She walked out past Johnny who was watching Max.

"What's the matter, Johnny?" Max asked. Something about him changed. "You look a little…scared."

"Definitely not of you." Johnny said, narrowing his eyes.

"You coming?" Merc asked, stepping up to Johnny's side.

"Yeah, let's go." Johnny said, keeping his eyes on Max as he put his arm around Merc's waist and they disappeared from the other man's sight.

"Now I know what that smell is." Max muttered to himself, darkly. "Mercy baby…you just made this so much easier."

* * *

Dun, dun, da!!! Foreshadowing, how I love to do it. 


	11. Starts with Goodbye

**Starts with Goodbye**

This chapter is pretty much based off of Carrie Underwood's song, Starts with Goodbye. It's the reason I turned this story in the direction it's going.

* * *

She stared at the man in front of her. Some part of her said that he was wrong, but the louder part said that what he was saying was true. But how on earth did he know before her? And why would he do this?

"The answer to that should be relatively easy to answer." Max said, putting his hands on the wall next to Merc's head, blocking her from any kind of escape. "I never liked Johnny, you know that."

"But…this…you…I don't believe it." Merc said.

"Well start believing it." Max said. "Did you honestly think we broke up on good terms? Did you honestly think that I didn't know the real reason behind it?"

"You were going away for god only knows how long." Merc said.

"Oh please…I saw the way you looked at Johnny." Max said. "The way you talked about him, the way you smiled every time he was around. You'd have to be pretty blind not to notice something." Merc looked down. "And the way he looked at you…you never noticed."

"Apart from the obvious hatred of my fiancé…why do this?" Merc asked.

"Because I can." Max said. "Now…be a good girl…and do what I told you. Unless, of course…you want both of them to die." Merc's eyes flew wide open.

"You wouldn't." She said.

"I've changed, Mercy." Max said.

"Obviously not for the better." Merc said. He stepped back and then pulled her cell phone from her pocket. Merc took it from him.

"Do it." Max said. She turned around and went out the door before sitting on the steps in front of the house. Max leaned against the door, a sadistic smile on his face.

"I can't do this over the phone." Merc said, not looking at him.

"Then invite him somewhere…but make sure he gets the main idea from this call." Max said. Merc took a deep breath and dialed Johnny's cell phone.

"Hey Mercy." Johnny answered, happily.

"Oh god…" Merc muttered.

"Huh?" Johnny asked.

"Umm…there's…we have a problem." Merc said.

"Oook." Johnny said.

"Can…can you just meet me…at the park?" Merc asked.

"Sure but…what's wrong?" Johnny asked.

"I'll tell you when you get there." Merc snapped, accidently. She hung up the phone and dropped it. Luckily it didn't break. She closed her eyes and put her hands over her face.

"Let's see how good of an actress you really can be." Max said, yanking her to her feet.

Merc stood under a large tree, her hangs twisting behind her back as she watched the little kids playing on the jungle gym a distance away.

"Hey!" Johnny said, jumping up next to her with a smile. Merc didn't return it so the smile quickly vanished. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"This isn't working out Johnny." Merc said, refusing to make eye contact.

"What?" Johnny asked.

"You and me." Merc said. "I just…it's…I'm obviously not meant to be with you."

"Wait a minute…where the hell did this come from?" Johnny asked.

"Does it matter?" Merc asked. "The point is that I'm through with trying to marry you when I obviously don't want to." If she had been looking at him, she would have seen the look he had two years ago when she had died for a few minutes except now it was worse.

"You…you can't mean that." Johnny said. He grabbed her arms and turned her to face him. "Tell me you don't mean it and you're just joking." Merc looked up at him with a blank expression.

"I mean it…and I'm not joking." She said. "There's…there's someone else."

"Who?" Johnny asked. Merc looked away from him again. She hesitated then slid the ring off her finger and pushed it into Johnny's hand.

"I'm sorry." Merc said. She turned around and left faster then he could react.

"Nicely done." Max said.

"I'll find a way around this." Merc said, glaring at him.

"Oh I'm sure you will." Max said, sarcastically. "But what's the point now? Your lover hates you."

"Hello?" Peter asked, holding his phone to his head.

"Hey…I need to talk to you." Johnny said.

"Uh…Johnny?" Peter asked.

"Yeah it's me." Johnny said, rolling his eyes and sighing.

"Umm…ok. Where do you want to meet?" Peter asked.

"How does the café in twenty minutes sound?" Johnny asked.

"Sure." Peter said. They hung up.

"What was that about?" Mary Jane asked.

"Johnny…sounds like something's wrong." Peter said. Mary Jane nodded. "I'll be back in a while ok?"

"Yeah sure." Mary Jane said, nodding again. Peter left. Johnny was already at the café when he got there.

"What's up?" Peter asked. As in answer, Johnny dropped the ring onto the table. "Nice ring."

"That's Merc's engagement ring." Johnny said. Peter stared at him. "She just broke it off…says there's someone else and this whole thing isn't working for her."

"What? That doesn't make any sense." Peter said. "She's crazy about you."

"Apparently she's not." Johnny said. Peter looked at him sympathetically but couldn't help but think there was something very suspicious about all of this.

_I was sitting on my doorstep,  
I hung up the phone and it fell out of my hand,  
But I knew I had to do it,  
And he wouldn't understand,  
So hard to see myself without him,  
I felt a piece of my heart break,  
But when you're standing at a crossroad,  
There's a choice you gotta make. _

I guess it's gonna have to hurt,  
I guess I'm gonna have to cry,  
And let go of some things I've loved,  
To get to the other side,  
I guess it's gonna break me down,  
Like falling when you try to fly,  
It's sad, but sometimes moving on with the rest of your life,  
Starts with goodbye. 

Merc sat in the little room that she guessed was now her room. It wasn't awful but it didn't have the homey feeling that she crazed at the moment.

_I know there's a blue horizon,  
Somewhere up ahead, just waiting for me,  
Getting there means leaving things behind,  
Sometimes life's so bitter sweet. _

I guess it's gonna have to hurt,  
I guess I'm gonna have to cry,  
And let go of some things I've loved,  
To get to the other side,  
I guess it's gonna break me down,  
Like falling when you try to fly,  
It's sad, but sometimes moving on with the rest of your life,  
Starts with goodbye.

Time, time heals,  
The wounds that you feel,  
Somehow, right now. 

She curled up on the bed with her back to the wall. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked helplessly at the bare wall in front of her.

_I guess it's gonna have to hurt,  
I guess I'm gonna have to cry,  
And let go of some things I've loved,  
To get to the other side,  
I guess it's gonna break me down,  
Like falling when you try to fly,  
It's sad, but sometimes moving on with the rest of your life,  
Starts with goodbye,  
I guess I'm gonna have to cry,  
And let go of some things I've loved,  
To get to the other side,  
Starts with goodbye,  
The only way you try to find,  
Moving on with the rest of your life,  
Starts with goodbye,  
Na na na na na na na_

What was she going to do??

* * *

I actually wanted to add this to the end of the last chapter but it didn't work well with me so I made it into it's own chapter. 


	12. Save Us from the End

**Save Us from the End**

All I can say here is that I'm sorry a thousand times over for being an evil person and not updating this story beforehand.

* * *

She was so sick of this. All of this. She was sick of being locked up. She was sick of the room. She was sick of the crappy bed. She was sick of visits. And she was sick of being sick. She was still more then a little pissed off at herself for the way she had treated Johnny. But she had to do it. She had to keep him away. HE was going to kill Johnny if the pyromaniac came into the picture. She couldn't let that happen. Better to have him forever angry at her then for him to be dead. She'd rather have him always throwing glares in her direction.

Even if there was a baby on the way.

Above all else, Merc couldn't believe that she was pregnant, or even that Max knew the whole damn time by the sounds of things. It creeped her out that he knew and she didn't but he was dropping hints to it. She only realized it less then a month ago, after being stuck in this room for two whole months. In all honesty, there was a moment that she was amazed no one had come looking for her, but then she figured that Johnny would have told everyone and come up with the conclusion that she had left town.

Max went out every day, and seemed to stalk Johnny. He would come back and tell Merc how Johnny was, and what he was up to, and who seemed to be his new arm candy of the week. He would go on for several minutes before Merc would throw something at him and scream at him to get out. If it wasn't for the baby, she would have done something to herself long ago.

"Put that on." Max said, opening the door and throwing a bag at Merc. She wasn't prepared and ended up getting hit by it but she didn't let it hit the floor.

"What is this?" Merc asked.

"It's an outfit…we're going on…put it on." Max said. Merc's eyes widened. Max was getting her into clothes and taking her out? That couldn't be good. She watched him back out of the room and flinched when the door slammed before pulling the clothes out of the bag. A frown crossed over her face as she gazed at the dress that was the same colour of her uniform. It even looked like it was made of a cheap knock off of the stuff the uniforms was made from.

Merc looked down at her slightly rounded stomach then sighed. Something told her this night was going to get ugly.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Peter asked.

"Come on Petey, you and MJ…couple of weeks and you're hitched. Have some fun before it happens." Johnny said. Peter gave him a look. Johnny rolled his eyes and put his hands in the air. "I'll take full blame and responsibility for anything alright?"

"This is why we're along." Reed said. Ben just nodded as he danced a bit on the spot.

"Okay, I guess." Peter said.

"Great, come dance with me." Some girl said, suddenly showing up from behind Peter and dragging him away from the guys. Johnny laughed at the look on his face.

"You certainly have a way of getting people to do things." Reed said, watching Peter for a second then looking at Johnny.

"What can I say…it's a gift." Johnny said, shrugging.

"Or just something you picked up from Mercy." Ben said. Johnny's smile was gone in an instant upon hearing the name and a scowl took it's place before he turned to the bar and ordered a drink. "You don't find it a bit odd that, even if she did leave town, she wouldn't have called me at least once in the last few months? Or contacted Brian about why she's ignoring his calls as well and not handing anything in?"

"Nope." Johnny said, harshly.

"She's not afraid OF you Johnny." Ben said. "She wouldn't be hiding.

"What's with the emphasis on the word 'of ' there Ben?" Johnny asked, turning to look at the rock.

"She might be afraid FOR you." Ben stated. Johnny said nothing to that. "Johnny, Mercy loves you…honestly loves you. She's never felt that way about anyone else in her whole life. You honestly think she would just drop you the way she did without some backwards motive?"

"Like what?" Johnny asked.

"Maybe someone's threatening you." Reed said.

"But she knows…" Johnny started.

"Love is crazy, Johnny." Reed said. "The instant Merc hears someone threatening you, she probably won't think that you can help yourself and keep yourself safe. Or maybe someone knows how to get to you and she wants to keep them away. There are so many explanations."

"Couldn't she have just told me? I mean god, she can get into my head." Johnny said.

"Merc may be smart but when she's worried, she can be pretty…" Ben started but stopped when something caught his eye. Reed and Johnny both frowned and looked where Ben was looking before they both froze as well.

Looking uncomfortable and pale, but still relatively normal, Merc walked into the club…with Max. She kept her eyes down. Upon closer inspection, Ben could see that Merc really didn't look normal. Apart from being pale, she also looked as if she hadn't slept in weeks. It reminded him of when they had her powers blocked off and that thought made Ben's hands clench into fists so tight that light, orange coloured dust fell from them as he ground his fingers against his palms.

"Someone has to help me." Peter said, getting over to them, breathing heavily. "These girls are dancing crazy. What are you all looking at?" He looked in the same direction as the other three and his jaw dropped.

As if finally sensing the four sets of eyes on her, Merc lifted her own up slowly. Hers widened at the sight of them but it was obvious who held her gaze the most…Johnny.

* * *

Alright short chapter but I don't seem to be good at the long ones anymore. But at least I updated! That's something.


	13. Say We Are

**Say We Are**

Ok, so this story is going to be over soon. I hope no body comes after me with spears for what happens in this chapter though. Don't blame me, I'm using someone else's ideas (I love her loads though, she's very helpful).

* * *

Johnny and Merc stared at each other for several long minutes. The longer they did that, the more pained Merc's expression seemed to be. She flinched when Max suddenly grabbed her shoulder and whispered something to her that made her instantly turn her head and eyes away from Johnny.

"Alright, that's it." Johnny said, slamming his drink down and making his way over to Merc and Max with Ben, Reed and Peter all behind him. Merc looked up at them, her expression now very fearful. It almost made Johnny stop but he wanted answers so he kept going.

"Well, well…surprise seeing you all here." Max said. Merc bit down on her lower lip.

"What the hell is going on?" Johnny asked, looking from Merc to Max.

"Just decided to come out for some fun is all, Storm." Max said. "What's the matter? Not liking the idea of seeing your girl with someone else?" His hand was on Merc's lower back and she suddenly flinched. Ben and Johnny were too busy glaring at Max but Reed and Peter both noticed the flinch. Merc blinked a few times then suddenly fainted. Everyone made grabs for her but Max was able to get her first. "Aww poor dear…must be so tired."

"I don't know what sick game you're playing Max but I'm going to have to ask you to let go of my niece." Ben growled.

"Oh like I haven't heard that before." Max said. "I tell ya what…let's take this outside." He lifted Merc up in his arms with little effort and then walked out of the club.

"Stay here…if things get bad, then change." Reed said to Peter. The other man nodded and followed them to the door but stayed inside. The three teammates stood on the empty road and looked around before spotting Max a few feet away.

"Where's Merc?" Ben asked.

"Oh, she's around." Max said. "But…for necessity…I had her taken away."

"If you hurt her…" Johnny threatened. Max laughed. Johnny narrowed his eyes and twitched his hands, causing his whole arms to catch fire.

"So we're playing with fire now are we?" Max asked. He held up his arms and wiggled his fingers in front of him. "Well come on then tough guy…hit me."

"Wait Johnny…" Reed started, but his brother-in-law wasn't listening. Johnny threw fireballs at Max who stood there and let them hit. Reed and Ben exchanged looks, somewhat fearful. Johnny stopped what he was doing and stood there. All the flames disappeared, leaving Max standing there, looking completely unharmed.

"My turn." Max said, forming a fireball in his hand and launching it at Johnny. It hit and Johnny was knocked backwards.

"Ok…that hurts." Johnny said, getting to his feet.

"Wonderful isn't it?" Max said, smirking. "So much power…at my fingertips." He stepped towards the three men. "And now you get to know what it's like to be in the losing end of something."

"I think not." Spiderman said, swinging down and shooting web at Max, effectively trapping him. "Am I late?"

"Not really." Johnny said.

"Where's Merc?" Spiderman asked.

"No idea." Johnny said. They all looked at Max as he broke the webbing around him.

"This…is going to be a challenge." Spiderman said.

"Compared to Doom, should be a piece of cake." Ben said.

"You think that, do ya?" Max asked. "Let's see then." He surprised them all by throwing bolts at Ben, the same way Victor used to. Ben ended up being thrown through a store's front window. "Victor Von Doom was an idiot." Max shot a stream of fire, with bolts twisted around it, at Reed, who just barely managed to bend out of the way in time. "He never understood what he was doing…it was spectacular to watch him fall."

"Obviously you know him…you're acting like him." Johnny said. Max narrowed his eyes shot fire at Johnny who countered with his own. The impact was strong enough to send both of them flying back. Johnny ended up colliding with Spiderman and both of them went tumbling to the ground.

"I think we're going to need a better plan." Spiderman said.

"You think?" Johnny asked, sarcastically. They got up just as Ben was getting out of the store and charging at Max. Johnny suddenly realized something and went to yell at Ben but it was too late. Max had thrown his hand out and Ben came to a dead stop, almost as if he had hit a wall. With a laugh, Max put his other hand by the first one and then lifted them, causing Ben to fly up into the air.

"What the…" Reed started.

"I'm guessing Max can copy abilities." Johnny said.

"Must have gotten Merc's." Reed said.

"Ok we definitely need a plan." Spiderman said. They all jumped away from each other as Ben was thrown at them.

"We're a little rusty on these sorts of things, Spidey." Johnny said. "Haven't had to face any power welders since the second round with Doom."

"And obviously our old way of fixing things isn't going to work." Ben said, getting up and joining the other three. They all jumped as a huge burst of fire and lightning shot at them but was then stopped by a large force field.

"Good thing someone thinks to call me." Sue said, standing a few feet from all of them with her hands up. She nodded at Spiderman then dropped her hands as the fire and lightning disappeared.

"Is the web head taking over little Mercy's position?" Max asked. "Might be a good idea. If you do ever find her, I doubt it'll be good for her to get back in the business."

"What did you do to her?" Johnny yelled.

"I didn't do anything." Max said. He lifted a hand and pointed a finger at Johnny. "You did." Everyone looked at Johnny.

"What are you…" Johnny started then paused.

"Ah…the wheels in that little brain of yours are turning aren't they?" Max said, laughing. "You're figuring out what you did. You are so pathetic, Johnny Storm. You don't deserve that girl."

"You certainly don't." Ben said.

"Ah but she is mine now." Max said. "Afterall…she was doing so well at keeping me away from her dear little Johnny."

"You sick twisted little son of a bitch." Johnny said.

"Do you want to see her?" Max asked. Everyone froze. "You know…I think I'd like to hear what she has to say." He turned and a short while later, another man arrived, pulling Merc along with him. She was awake now.

"Merc!" Sue yelled.

"Come on over here, Johnny…come say good bye to your lovely little girlfriend." Max said. Johnny ignored everyone else and walked over, his eyes firmly locked on Merc. The man let go of her and shoved her roughly. Johnny grabbed her before she managed to hit the ground.

"Johnny I'm so sorry." Merc said, tears streaming down her face. "I didn't mean…I never wanted…" Johnny suddenly leaned down and kissed her, putting his arms firmly around her. Merc whimpered slightly but she held tightly to him. They pulled away from each other and Merc was crying even more then before. Johnny just looked at her with such an apologetic look that she had to turn her eyes away. He watched her for a few seconds then leaned in and kissed her cheek softly.

"I love you more then anything else in this world, Mercedes Denver." Johnny whispered. Merc was beginning to find it hard it see from all the tears she cried.

"I think we've had enough of that." Max said, harshly. He grabbed Merc and yanked her back away from Johnny. She yelled in pain as his fingers dug into her arm. Johnny's eyes narrowed. Max pulled Merc closer to himself but she slapped him. "You wanna be a little bitch? Fine by me." Merc cried out as he electrocuted her before throwing her, once again unconscious form, to the ground a few feet away. Sue, Reed, Ben and Spiderman all ran to Merc. Sue knelt by the young girl's head while the men all stood guard. Ben started forward when Johnny suddenly threw his hand out to stop them.

"No…Get Merc out of here." He said. "This is between me and Max."

"Finally!" Max said, laughing. "Finally you step up to the big hero role. Save your girl's sorry ass." He was caught by surprised when Johnny suddenly blasted him with a huge fireball. Max got thrown back into the same shop that Ben was thrown into.

"Guys go now. Get Merc out of here and don't come back." Johnny said, turning to everyone else.

"What?!" Sue yelled. "Johnny that's insane!"

"Just do it!" Johnny said.

"But…" Sue started.

"Damn it, Sue! Merc is pregnant!" Johnny said. Everyone else froze. Apparently they didn't catch on to what Max was getting at earlier. "With my kid…get her back to the Baxter and take care of her." There was a noise that sounded like a growl and next second Johnny was tackled to the ground. He and Max rolled around, punching and beating each other with regular and burning fists.

"Come…come on…the car's back here." Sue said, close to tears as she watched her baby brother fighting. Spiderman got Merc on his back and they ran to the Fantastic car. Once Merc was in a seat, they all looked back just in time to see Johnny flame on and fly into the air, with Max doing the same right after.

"We have to run tests on Merc, make sure what Max did…make sure he didn't harm the baby." Reed said. The others nodded and climbed into the car. Spiderman sat with Merc as it took off back to the building.

"Just how far you willing to take this, Storm?" Max asked, floating in front of Johnny, both men completely on fire and glaring daggers at each other.

"Oh I'm willing to go pretty far." Johnny said. He clenched his fists and Max prepared himself for more blows but was surprised when Johnny didn't hit at him. He floated there, staring in disbelief as Johnny started getting brighter. Max could start feeling the heat radiating off of him and suddenly, he was afraid. He started to move away but Johnny grabbed him.

"What are you gonna do?" Max asked.

"Super nova." Johnny said.

People stood at their windows, staring out at the bright spot in the night sky that was getting brighter. It was clearly at some distance away, hovering over the ocean, but it was still something to worry about. The majority of them let out started gasps as the spot suddenly flared, lighting up the sky. They had to cover their eyes. All but one person, who stood on the beach holding binoculars, missed the two people falling as the flare died down. The man on the beach held his binoculars trained on one of them and watched the splash in the ocean it created before he ran off to get his boat.

At the Baxter building, Merc suddenly lurched into wakefulness, screaming and crying. Her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach as she curled up protectively.

"Merc…Mercy, shh, honey it's ok." Sue said, hurrying over to Merc and holding the upset girl. Merc cried harder as she clung to Sue, not entirely sure why she suddenly felt pain or was so scared. The four men stood around them, watching the distraught girl, all with watery eyes. There were a few long minutes where the only sound was Merc's sobs. Finally, she lifted her head off Sue's shoulder. Her eyes red and puffy, her cheeks shiny in the light from the tears. Then…she asked the one question no one could answer.

"Where's Johnny?"

* * *

And then the cliffhanger.


	14. Still

**Still**

I'm going to say that this story has about…five or six chapters left. The song I'm using in this chapter, by the way, is called Still, sung by Ana Johnsson. It's a really nice song but if some parts don't really fit with Merc and Johnny, kind of ignore it. I don't want to change any of it because it's so nice. I recommend listening to it while you read this chapter, it's on youtube.

* * *

"Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, till death do you part?"

"I do."

"Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

"From those gathered here today, are there any objections as to why these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace." Everyone present looked at each other but no one said a thing. "Very well…by the powers invested in me, by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride."

Merc smiled a partially forced smile as she clapped her hands. Mary Jane and Peter kissed as everyone else clapped. Some point afterwards, Merc was introduced to Peter's aunt May. She wasn't really at all surprised that, outwardly, May had no idea that her nephew was Spiderman. Merc got a glimpse in the older woman's head that she sort of suspected it.

_Seven years since we first fell in love  
Seven years since my heart came undone  
Oh the memory still makes me warm  
Cos I love you still_

"So how much longer again?" Mary Jane asked, lightly putting her hand on Merc's rounded stomach.

"Couple more months." Merc said. "We're thinking two or three."

"Guess you get worse heartburn then most other pregnant women." Mary Jane said.

"Oh yeah." Merc said. Mary Jane smiled and hugged her. Merc was glad that no one was really behind her because her smile slipped off. It quickly replaced itself as the two broke apart. Merc looked at the red head's husband. "One more time Peter…did you pack the suit?"

"For the last time no!" Peter said. "MJ went through my entire luggage before we left."

"Good." Merc said. "Don't worry about New York, the rest of the team has it covered. You just enjoy your honeymoon."

"Thanks again for arranging it, Merc." Mary Jane said.

"No problem guys." Merc said. "Just take loads of pictures." She waved as Mary Jane and Peter went through the gate to board their plane. Then her smile was completely gone. She turned and walked out of the airport, over to her car. It was still a bit of a surprise that neither Mary Jane nor Peter had a car but it didn't really matter much at the moment.

_And I will learn to go on  
I'll smile when I'm expected to  
I know I will  
Yeah I will learn to move on  
But I love you still_

She drove by a newsstand and glanced at the magazines. Half of them had Johnny on them, stating he was still gone. It was a month, nearly a month and a half, later and that's all anyone was talking about. Did they think she enjoyed it? She didn't want to hear about how he was gone, probably dead.

"Hey sweetheart." Brian said, somewhat sadly as he greeted Merc. She smiled slightly at him. "How you doing?"

"Same as always, Brian." Merc said. "Same as always." She just got a nod from her boss. Brian watched the broken girl as she gathered her stuff. Her heart was gone, she was a robot…just like when she had her powers gone. Brian wasn't around at the time but he knew the story.

He looked over everything she had done for a new story. There was one thing to say about Merc as an author, everything she wrote reflected her own experiences or feelings in some way. The stuff Brian held now had a dark, sad air about it. It fit beautifully with everything else though and there was almost no way of saying when the mood changed.

_So they say that all wounds heal with time  
Then how come time is not healing mine?  
It's like you've locked yourself into my mind  
And I love you still_

"Adrian, help me with this diaper." Alicia said to her son as Merc walked into the apartment. Alicia looked up. "Mercy, that you?"

"Yeah." Merc said.

"How was work?" Alicia asked.

"It was there." Merc said.

"Merc…you wanna play video games with me?" Adrian asked.

"Diaper first, then games." Alicia said. Merc took over changing Natalie then put her down for a nap before sitting next to Alicia on the couch while Adrian played some game. "You wanna talk?"

"No." Merc said.

"Eventually you will have to." Alicia said, softly. She held out her hand and, sighing, Merc took it. "Sweetie, there's nothing wrong with how you're feeling. You lost the man you love right when you were getting him back." Merc blinked as her eyes started watering. She hadn't cried since that day. She remembered, when she had kissed Johnny, how he had told her what he planned in her mind. She had listened and protested but he wanted her and the baby safe. Merc would have stopped him if seconds later he hadn't said he loved her and Max hadn't knocked her out again.

"I don't know what to do, Alicia." She muttered, letting a tear roll down her cheek. Adrian turned around to face them then paused his game before climbing onto the couch and hugging Merc. That just got her to really start crying.

"Don't cry, Mercy." Adrian said. "Please don't cry."

"I'm sorry, buddy…I can't help it." Merc said. They were like that when the other three returned. No body knew how to comfort Merc, this wasn't something they knew how to deal with.

_How I wish I could go back  
I'd never let us make the same mistakes again  
How I wish I could go back  
Cos I love you still_

A few of them noticed, as the next few months rolled by, that Merc was behaving the same way she did without her powers. She didn't use them anymore, apart from the accidental mind readings and causing a few things to explode when she ended up giving birth to her son a month early. Once baby James entered her life, she changed relatively back to normal. She smiled more unforced smiles when she was around her son but everyone noticed the toll it took on her to have to look at someone that so resembled Johnny. Especially when James had a tendency to catch things on fire.

"Come on, Mercy, let's go to the park." Sue said. "What good are babies if you can't show them off?"

"Sure." Merc said. She wrapped James up in warm clothes since it was nearly winter before they set off. Merc and Sue met up with Mary Jane at the park.

"How's my godson doing?" Mary Jane said, instantly taking James out of the stroller and kissing his head.

"Growing up happy and healthy." Merc said. She waited then smiled slightly at the look on Mary Jane's face. Sue noticed it as well then giggled.

"He likes projecting dinosaurs into other peoples' heads." She said.

"That would explain it." Mary Jane said, shaking her head.

"Reed loves his nephew." Merc said. "He went out and bought a whole bunch of dinosaur toys and now puts on these little shows for James and Natalie."

"It's really very amusing." Sue said. "Hearing him do the different voices then using big words." Merc smiled more.

"Oh speaking of playing…Peter's birthday is coming up." Mary Jane said. "I was wondering if we could do a party for him at your apartment."

"That's fine with us." Merc said. Sue nodded. "We'll swing it by Reed but I'm sure he'll agree."

"Great." Mary Jane said. The three women hung out at the park for a bit then went walking around, spending time in shops to keep the babies warmer.

_Been counting endless nights and days  
You're hundred thousands miles away  
But I feel you  
And what I feel will never change  
All tomorrows for one yesterday  
Cos I love you still  
Yeah, I love you, love you still_

With the way things were going, it turned out to be Merc's job to keep Peter away from the Baxter building. It wasn't that hard to do, all she had to do was bring James along and Peter was so into playing with his godson that he didn't even figure that there was something sneaky going on.

"If you weren't so stubborn and had to be born a month early, you could have had the same birthday as me." Peter said, tickling James. Merc grinned as she watched them. Peter was still in Spiderman costume because she had shown up just as he was returning. James seemed to love the costume, he never made any fuss when Peter was in it.

"Would you actually want to share your birthday with someone cuter then you?" Merc asked.

"Oh ha, ha Mercy." Peter said. Merc just smirked and shrugged. He turned to her, picking James up off the bed. "How you doing, by the way?"

"I'm okay." Merc said, taking her son so that Peter could finally put some clothes on.

"It's just…you know…been almost a year since you were locked up." Peter said, grabbing some clothes. "And then you only got a minute…"

"Pete!" Merc cut in. "I do not want to hear about it alright?"

"Yeah, right…sorry." Peter said. "So…I gotta ask…what do you want for Christmas?"

"I don't know, surprise me." Merc said.

"What should I get Jimmy?" Peter asked, buttoning up his shirt.

"Something he can't swallow." Merc said. James patted at his mother shoulder and she looked down at him. Merc had learned with Natalie to always keep her hair tied up whenever handling one of the babies. Mary Jane now had short hair because James had accidentally singed off the ends the other week.

_I'm pretending to be strong  
Fooling myself everyday saying I'm ok  
When there's mothing left I will hold on  
I will love you still  
I will love you still_

"I found him several months ago in the middle of the ocean." Peter and Merc walked out of the elevator and frowned, seeing the backs of two men they didn't know but one of them looked familiar. Merc looked at Sue who looked sad but relieved at the same time. "Took a while to get him feeling better, that water was freezing. When he was finally well enough, I asked him where he lived and he told me he had no idea."

"What's going on?" Peter whispered.

"Uh…it was supposed to be a surprise party…but I think it changed." Merc whispered back.

"He was hard to recognize for a while but then he accidentally burned the bed in his room." The man talking had an English accent. "Knew who he was then. So I booked a couple of seats on a plane and here we are now."

"Merc…give me James." Peter whispered. Merc handed over her son without even thinking. Everyone suddenly noticed they were there.

"Merc! Peter!" Sue said. The two men turned around and once again, Merc found herself locking eyes instantly with a man she hadn't seen in months.

"Umm…surprise." Mary Jane said.

Merc Fainted.

* * *

Well this could be classified as a bit of a cliffhanger but honestly, come on. We all know who it is.


	15. Forget to Remember

**Forget to Remember**

Hey look, I'm getting a chapter a day. Hopefully that'll continue until the end of this story. Anyone else notice that the last five chapters all started with S?

* * *

"Umm…surprise." Mary Jane said.

Merc fainted.

Johnny crosses the distance faster then anyone thought possible and caught Merc just before she hit the ground. Everyone stared at him. Peter shifted James in his arms and crouched and put a hand on Merc's forehead.

"Is she ok?" Johnny asked.

"She should be fine…just shock." Peter said. Johnny shifted Merc so that he was holding her bridal style. He looked from her to the baby in Peter's arms then back again. Peter noticed the looks. "This is her son, James."

"Thank you for bringing him home." Sue said, turning to the other man that was there.

"It was no problem." The man said. He turned to Johnny.

"Sorry about the mess I made." Johnny said, looking at him.

"Don't worry about it." The man said. "Just get better." Ben walked over to Johnny, who instantly appeared to tighten his hold on Merc.

"She's my niece, Johnny. I'm not about to hurt her." Ben said. Johnny frowned slightly before handing Merc over to him. Ben smiled a bit then took Merc up to her room. He stood over her and watched her for a minute before turning on the baby monitor and leaving the room. They were going to want to know when she woke up before she came barreling down to see them.

Ben returned to find everyone else sitting down and James now being held by Mary Jane. He stood next to where Alicia was sitting.

"So…you're my sister, Susan." Johnny said, pointing at Sue.

"Yeah." Sue said.

"Okay…and he's my brother-in-law, Reed, and that's my niece, Natalie." Johnny said, pointing to Reed and the baby girl he held.

"You got it." Reed said.

"Then who's everyone else?" Johnny asked.

"Peter and Mary Jane Parker." Reed said, indicating to the couple next to Johnny. "Pete is one of your closest friends."

"He's also Spiderman." Mary Jane said. Johnny looked from her to Peter then nodded slowly.

"And those at Ben and Alicia Grimm, Merc's aunt and uncle, as well as Adrian, their son." Sue said, pointing at the other couple and then at the little boy who was watching Johnny.

"And who is Merc…to me I mean?" Johnny asked. "I feel like I definitely should be remembering that." Everyone looked at each other before Mary Jane stood up and carefully handed James over to Johnny. He stared at the baby in his arms.

"Say hello to your son." Mary Jane said.

"Whoa wait, this is mine?" Johnny asked. Everyone nodded. "Damn."

"Johnny…" Ben said.

"Sorry, swearing bad in front of kids, I know." Johnny said. He took his eyes off James and looked at Adrian. "Do not repeat what I said."

"Uh…okay." Adrian said.

"Alright so…what…does this mean that this Merc girl and I are married or something?" Johnny asked.

"Engaged…for three years now." Reed said.

"What the…what's taken us so long?" Johnny asked. "Am I afraid of commitment or something?"

"Well that was the initial theory." Sue said. Johnny frowned. "Merc has some marital issues. We've never figured them out. You guys have had several attempts but either she fails to show because she's too busy trying to psych herself out or something disrupts everything."

"Have we tried tricking her?" Johnny asked.

"Yep." Ben said. "Marriage attempt number eight. Made her think it was the rehearsal…then she stalled on the vows and some idiots decided to rob a bank so we had to go take care of that."

"We've had eight attempts?" Johnny asked. James made some noise and Johnny began unconsciously rocking him.

"Twelve actually." Reed said.

"Wow…really are some issues." Johnny said. He looked down at James. Everyone (apart from Alicia of course) was too busy watching him then notice there was noise across the baby monitor. None of them heard the muttered curiosity either.

Merc walked slowly out of her room and down to where everyone else sat. She stopped when she entered the room and a small smile crossed her face as she looked at Johnny holding James. She wondered how much everyone had told him. Moving closer, they all looked up at Merc.

"When did you get up?" Ben asked.

"Just like a minute ago." Merc said. She walked over to Johnny and, for a second, everyone thought she was going to say something to him, but instead she crouched down in front of him and gently touched her son's forehead before looking at Peter. "Quite the birthday, huh?"

"Yeah." Peter said.

"It's your birthday?" Johnny asked. Peter nodded. "Oh…sorry for breaking up the party."

"Don't worry about it." Peter said. "It's just good to have you back, lack in memory aside." Merc looked at Johnny, who looked at her. Ben looked at back of them then motioned to Adrian to get up before he helped Alicia up. Sue, Reed, Mary Jane and Peter all stood up as well and they all silently trooped into the kitchen.

"They've done it again." Merc said.

"Huh?" Johnny asked.

"Everyone else." Merc said, standing up. "They've left us alone."

"Huh…so they have." Johnny said, looking around. "This uh…happen often?"

"Whenever they think there's a serious moment going on." Merc said. She sighed then sat down. "You and me…we fought a lot."

"Really?" Johnny asked.

"Yeah." Merc said. "When we were just best friends, we were fine. Then we started dating and there were fights every week." She brushed her hair back out of her face.

"How'd we ever manage?" Johnny asked.

"You know…a lot of people asked that question." Merc said, smiling slightly. She sat back and rested her head on the back of the couch.

"What was your answer?" Johnny asked. Merc turned her head to look at him.

"Some times you gotta take the good with the bad." She said. "And all the good times outweighed the bad times."

"I barely even remember you and I can already tell you are one amazing woman." Johnny said.

"Thanks Johnny." Merc said. She nodded at James. "What do you think of him?"

"He's…cute." Johnny said. "Can definitely tell he's yours."

"Can definitely tell he's yours too." Merc said.

"Really?" Johnny asked.

"He doesn't like strangers." Merc said. She smiled slightly. "And now he's fast asleep." Johnny looked at the baby in his arms to see that Merc was right. He looked back at Merc and for a split second saw the pained expression before she managed to hide it again. It was gone so fast that Johnny thought he was imagining it. "I should put him to bed…it's about nap time anyways."

"Uh…okay." Johnny said. They stood up and Merc noticed the slight reluctance Johnny had at handing over the baby. That made her smile just a bit. She went back to her room while Johnny went to the kitchen where everyone else was.

"Hey…you alright?" Sue asked, later on as she stood in the doorway of Johnny's room. He sat up on the bed and noticed almost instantly the photo album she carried.

"Yeah…still adjusting." Johnny said. "What's that for?"

"Figured it couldn't hurt." Sue said, walking into the room and handing Johnny the album. "That was the present Merc gave you for your birthday a few years ago. There's a bunch of pictures of you guys together. The next year, you started dating. We've been adding pictures to it all the time. At the end there's some pictures of James when he was born."

"Cool, thanks." Johnny said. Sue smiled and turned to leave. "Uh…Sue." She stopped and looked at him. "This is only temporary right? I mean…I'll get it all back soon."

"You should, don't worry." Sue said.

"If I hear that one more time today…" Johnny said, grinning.

"Reed's working on it." Sue said. "He's good at stuff like this. If you don't figure it out on your own, then I'm sure we'll find something." She walked back over to him and hugged him. "It's great to have you back Johnny. We missed you so much."

"Yeah." Johnny said, loosely putting an arm around her. Sue left the room and Johnny finally opened the album. There were many pictures that were taken from other people and just as many that were obviously taken from Merc or Johnny as they posed together. One picture that made him smile was of the duo but they were younger, probably around the time they first started being friends and probably at Halloween time. Merc was dressed up as Catwoman and Johnny seemed to be Batman. Merc must have knocked him over because in the picture she was sitting on his stomach, holding his arms away from his body. They looked young and silly but obviously were having fun.

Johnny frowned slightly as he flipped through the pages. He was looking at all of these pictures and he still couldn't remember anything. A few people had said he was lucky to even remember his name, even though all he remembered was the first one. He started flipping a page then stopped. Everyone had said that the two had started dating three years ago, while Merc was nineteen. The picture that caught Johnny's attention looked to be from prom. Johnny, dressed in a tux, had his arm around Merc, who looked absolutely gorgeous in a simple but elegant sky blue dress that appeared to be of some silky material. In the picture, she was leaning against him with a bright smile on her face. Her hair looked to be done up with strands of it left down to artfully frame her face.

"Hmm…" Johnny said, leaning closer to look at the picture better. Suddenly he stood up and, carrying the album open to that picture, walked from his room to Merc's. He went straight in. For a moment he felt guilty as he seemed to have woken her up, but she just smiled slightly as she sat up.

"What's the matter, Johnny?" Merc asked.

"Nothing…just Sue gave me this photo album." Johnny said. Merc flicked up the lamp as Johnny walked over and sat on the bed with her. "And I was looking at this picture."

"My prom?" Merc asked.

"Yeah." Johnny said. "I know everyone's been saying that you and I dated after that but I'm getting the feeling…"

"We slept together." Merc said. Johnny just stared at her. "You took me to prom because I had just broken up with Max…" For some reason that name unnerved and angered Johnny but he didn't say anything. "And I didn't want to go with anyone else. I ended up drinking…and you just…took care of me."

"How does sleeping with you constitute as taking care of you?" Johnny asked, trying to hold back a smile.

"Because I sorta gave you no other choice." Merc said, grinning herself. "I think I kinda said that if you wouldn't do it then I'd find someone else."

"Oh so you were manipulative." Johnny said. Merc shrugged. "And this was before the powers right?"

"Yep." Merc said. "Eight months before."

"So you wouldn't have been able to read my mind to find out if that was actually a big strain for me or not." Johnny said. Merc shook her head.

"Was it?" She asked.

"I don't know." Johnny said.

"Nothing?" Merc asked, slightly disappointed.

"Yeah…I'm sorry." Johnny said. He looked at her. "But great story though." Merc laughed. He smiled, glad that she wasn't disappointed. He felt compelled to kiss her if a sudden loud crying didn't interrupt them. Merc sighed and climbed out of bed. Johnny watched her walk over to the crib and scoop up her…their son.

Their son. It was a strange idea, having a child with a woman he didn't even remember. But the more he thought about it, the less unnerving the idea became. Afterall, he could have done worse…way worse. Johnny gulped when he realized that Merc had begun nursing the baby. He decided to take in the décor of the room. There was a lot of stuff around that looked like things he would like. Didn't take him long to realize that he probably spent most, if not all of his nights in this room…with this woman…who was currently breastfeeding his child. His eyes found their way over to the mother and child purely on accident (alright…not so much).

"Hush now, my baby, be still love, don't cry." Johnny jumped when he heard the soft voice singing. A soft smile crossed over his face as he realized Merc was singing to James. "Sleep like you're rocked by the stream. Sleep and remember, my lullaby, and I'll be with you when you dream." Merc swayed slowly, dancing in a way. "Drift on a river, that flows through my arms. Drift as I'm singing to you. I see you smiling, so peaceful and calm. Holding you, I'm smiling too. Here in my arms, safe from all harm. Holding you, I'm smiling too." Her voice died down to a small whisper before she carefully replaced the now sleeping infant in his crib.

"Nice song." Johnny said, quietly.

"River lullaby." Merc said. Johnny's eyebrow rose in curiosity. "The movie, the Prince of Egypt. River lullaby is a song in it, sung by Amy Grant."

"Oh, right…gotcha." Johnny said. Merc sat down next to him. She was close enough that, when he lifted his hand, it brushed against her fuzzy pajama pants. It was a feeling he wasn't used to but somehow was awfully familiar and comforting. Of course, when he thought about it, it was probably that way because it was something he was used to, just wasn't able to remember. "Umm…I…I think I'm gonna head back to bed."

"Okay." Merc said. She hesitated slightly then leaned over and kissed his cheek. Johnny looked at her then smiled slightly. "Good night."

"Good night." Johnny said. He rose slowly and walked out of the room after gazing at his sleeping son for a few long moments.

* * *

God you people have no idea how badly I wanted them to kiss for real but we all know what happens when they do that? Lol…too early for him to remember things.


	16. Open Up

**Open Up**

Look, a new chapter, lol. Sorry for the delay.

* * *

Johnny made pretty good progress when it came to remembering Sue and his parents. But apart from that, there wasn't much progress anywhere else. Everyone was familiar to him now, he could sort of remember meeting them, and he remembered a bunch of random, different, almost pointless, emotions and little things about Merc. Everyone was fairly surprised when, after a week, that was all Johnny managed to remember...everyone but Merc that is. She really didn't appear to have any problem with it. Of course, it could have been because of the fact that she still spent a lot of time with Johnny and he was almost always seen carrying or playing with James lately.

"He just plain out refuses to be apart from them." Sue said, watching Johnny, carrying James, leave with Merc. "The only time you ever see that is if they're sleeping, and I'm pretty sure he's thinking about moving back into Merc's room again."

"Well that's good." Reed said.

"Yeah…just wish he'd remember more." Sue said.

"You're not the only one." Reed said.

"So what's this plan that you came up with?" Sue asked. Reed showed her a diagram and she examined it for a few minutes. "Why are there two helmets?"

"Hey there you little cutie." Brian said, taking a sleepy looking James from Merc just after she took the baby out of the car. Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"Johnny this is Brian…my publisher." Merc said.

"Right…yeah." Johnny said, nodding. He watched Brian handling his son. It was one thing to have Peter or Reed or Ben holding and playing with James…they were all family.

"Brian, give the baby over to his daddy." Merc said, reading Johnny's thoughts and smiling. Brian handed James over to Johnny before the three of them headed inside. Johnny sat around and played with James while Merc and Brian discussed endings to the new book. It had been dark and sad all along, playing off Merc's own feelings, and now her emotions had bounced in a different direction and she needed to figure out how to configure everything nicely.

In the end it was Johnny's idea to use one of the characters in the story to help the protagonist in a way his own return seemed to help Merc. When that was all settled, there was discussion about another story idea Merc had come up with before the mini family left.

"So now what?" Johnny asked, looking at Merc who was driving.

"I don't know." Merc said. "Guess we could…do a browse of the mall, see if we can't find any potential Christmas presents for everyone."

"Sounds like a plan." Johnny said. They drove to the mall and Johnny got to carry James around. Anyone could tell how much he loved it, and Merc was glad that he did. She had taken a few steps through the mall before realizing that Johnny wasn't following. Turning around, she saw him looking at a display in a store window. She walked over and looked at the display to see several surfboards.

"Johnny?" Merc asked.

"Silver Surfer." Johnny said, somewhat vacantly.

"_Let her know that you love her and cherish her."_

"You died." Johnny said, turning his head slowly to look at Merc. She blinked and looked at him, somewhat confused. Then she remembered. Doom had stabbed her which had inevitably led to her dying for a few seconds before Norrin had healed her and brought her back.

"You remember that?" Merc asked. Johnny nodded slowly. "Good…you're making progress. That's great."

"Wish I could remember more." Johnny said.

"You'll figure it out, don't worry." Merc said, smiling. It annoyed Johnny when everyone else told him not to worry but when Merc did it, she had a way of saying it so that it didn't have that affect. He just smiled slightly back at her and they continued through the many stores the mall had to offer.

"Are you serious?" Johnny asked, walking out of the elevator into the Baxtor apartment room a few hours later.

"Yep, completely." Merc said, laughing and following him out. Sue and Reed looked up at them.

"Wow…how the he…ck did we manage?" Johnny asked.

"Wasn't easy." Merc said. "Mind you it only lasted a day so we were good." Johnny laughed.

"What are you two talking about?" Sue asked.

"The time we switched bodies." Merc said. "I'm gonna put James down for a nap." She kissed Johnny's cheek and he smiled as he watched her head off to the bedrooms.

"I know that look." Sue said, walking over to her brother. Johnny looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "You are falling so deeply in love with her."

"I thought I already was." Johnny said.

"You're doing it again." Sue said, smiling. "That's great though. It could help jog your memory." Johnny nodded. Merc rejoined them, baby monitor attached to her hip. Johnny unconsciously slid an arm around her waist and she made no objections so he didn't even notice until they were sitting down.

"I have something you two might find interesting." Reed said. He held up his plans and diagrams and the two young people just stared at it. Simultaneously, Merc and Johnny tilted their heads in the same direction and frowned before going the other way. Sue watched them in amusement.

"Why…are there two helmet things?" Merc asked, partially sure she already knew the answer.

* * *

Alright so short chapter and a few months late. I just wanna draw out any real intimacy between Merc and Johnny and put space between his return and his memory return and then, finally…something we've all been waiting for.


	17. Two Helmets

**Two Helmets**

Okay I did it again, too many months delay. I'm sorry, I'm working on fixing that. Particularly by giving you this next chapter.

* * *

Merc looked up at the dome around her head. Next to her, Johnny sat in the same predicament. She could hear a slight buzzing as the dome started powering up.

"What am I supposed to do again?" Merc asked.

"Use your power." Reed said. "This helmet magnifies your telepathic ability. With luck, you should be able to unlock Johnny's missing memories."

"Right, okay…just checking." Merc said. She turned slightly to look at Johnny. He didn't look very comfortable but he visibly made the effort to try when he caught Merc's eye. He'd have to be calm in order for her to get anything out of his head. She smiled reassuringly at him and he nodded. Taking a deep breath, Merc concentrated.

Reed and Sue stood by watching. They were glad that Peter and Mary Jane had offered to take the kids for this time because the distractions wouldn't be good. Their attention jumped between the young couple and the readings on the computer screen.

Without warning, Merc's helmet started sparking. Johnny flinched and shut his eyes. Merc shook her head then let out a yelp and that was enough for Sue to quickly shut off the power. For a long time, neither Johnny nor Merc moved. They both just sat in their chairs, eyes closed. Finally, Johnny groaned and opened his eyes, reaching up to push the helmet off. He got up carefully then took the few steps over to Merc before checking her over.

"Johnny?" Sue asked, as Merc's eyes opened.

"Didn't work very well." Johnny said. He helped Merc up and brought her to her room. She lied down and he sat next to her. "You okay?"

"Killer headache." Merc said, rubbing her forehead. Johnny smiled slightly. "I'm sorry it didn't work."

"I'm sorry you got hurt." Johnny said, putting his hand on her cheek. "I'd rather get my memories back at a snail pace then have you be in pain trying to fix things."

"You're really sweet, you know that." Merc said. Johnny smiled more. Merc sat up and paused for a second before she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. He reacted instantly, his free arm going around her waist while the hand on her cheek moved to the back of her head. He pushed her closer and she moaned against his mouth. Her lips parted, giving his tongue free access.

They ended up lying down, Merc on her back and Johnny over her, his hands sliding up and down her sides both over and under her shirt. Merc had already gotten his shirt off without him barely even registering it. Her nails scratched lightly at his chest, receiving a small growl in response. Johnny pulled away from the kiss, only to turn his attention to her throat.

"God…Johnny…" Merc muttered, pressing her head back into the pillow. Her eyes fluttered shut and then she squirmed slightly, giggling, as one of Johnny's fingers traced along the pregnancy marks on her abdomen. Johnny lifted his head to look at her and smile. Her eyes opened and she smiled back before leaning up to kiss him again. Neither of them noticed Reed peeking into the room and quickly closing the door.

"Mercy…" Johnny said, softly, leaning back. Merc looked at him curiously. "There's…I think I should…I gotta ask you something."

"Okay." Merc said. She watched as he stayed quiet. She brought him closer and kissed his cheeks. "What is it?"

"Will you marry me?" Johnny asked.

"Of course." Merc said.

"Soon." Johnny said.

"How soon?" Merc asked.

"Steal the fantasti-car and go to Vegas kind of soon." Johnny said. Merc looked at him.

"You wanna get married in Vegas?" She asked.

"I don't care where or how as long as I'm marrying you." Johnny said. "Merc I love you and I've lost you way too many times to ever want to lose you again." This time he kissed her cheeks and her forehead. "You are the best thing in my life, you and James, and I wanna be with you guys. I want the family thing and I don't want it with anyone other then you." Merc was silent for a while, her fingers absently toying with Johnny's hair. He watched her just as silently, his eyes gazing at her calmly.

"Do we have to do it in Vegas?" Merc asked.

"No." Johnny said, laughing. "Where ever…whenever you want…just don't make me wait too long." Merc smiled slightly and he kissed her.

Peter looked in on them a couple hours later to find Merc fast asleep and Johnny walking out of the bathroom. They looked at each other before Johnny raised a finger to his mouth and pointed out the door.

"Anything?" Peter asked, once they were in the hall and talking quietly.

"Coming back faster then before at least." Johnny said. "I'm marrying her, Pete."

"Yeah?" Peter asked. "Great."

"I want to do it today." Johnny said. Peter raised an eyebrow. "All the other times…there's been planning, there's been time. Even when we tried tricking her."

"You remember those?" Peter asked. Johnny nodded slowly. "Okay…what's your plan?"

"She just fell asleep." Johnny said. "We should have time to get everything together and set up before she wakes up."

"You're sure about this." Peter said. It wasn't a question but Johnny nodded again anyways. "Okay, let's get everyone else informed and get to work." They headed to the lab where Reed and Sue were looking over the information they had gotten from the tests while Ben, Alicia and Mary Jane sat around, watching Adrian play with Natalie and James.

Merc woke up several hours later to a note on the pillow next to her. All it said was go to the roof. Curiosity got the better of her so she got up and went out to the roof. Everyone was out there and a woman stood at a podium between them all.

"What's…going on?" Merc asked.

"We're getting married." Johnny said. Merc raised an eyebrow as she slowly walked towards Johnny. "If you want to." She just nodded, still confused.

"Great, let's do this." Mary Jane said.

"Jonathan Storm, do you take Mercedes Danvers to be your lawfully wedded wife?" The woman asked.

"I do." Johnny said.

"Mercedes Danvers, do you take Jonathan Storm to be your lawfully wedded husband?" The woman asked. Merc looked at her then looked at Johnny. She couldn't help but think that with all the attempts they had made, they had never actually done something like this.

"Yes." Merc said, finally after several long moments of silence. A huge smile broke out on Johnny's face and everyone else broke into applause.

"You're not supposed to clap yet!" Johnny said. They all laughed and stopped. Merc joined in the laughing as Johnny slid a ring onto her finger. Sue handed her one to do the same for him.

"By the power invested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you, finally, husband and wife." The woman said, smiling. "Go ahead and kiss her already."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Johnny said, grabbing Merc and pulling her up against him before pressing his lips to hers.

"After all this time, all it took was a relatively spontaneous wedding to do it?" Sue asked, after the paperwork was signed.

"Guess so." Merc said.

"You're unbelievable." Sue said, laughing. Merc smiled and cuddled her son to her chest while her husband held her close to him. There was a flash and everyone looked at Mary Jane to see her holding a camera.

"Oh, that's definitely a good one." Mary Jane said.

"I thought Pete was the photographer." Johnny said, nuzzling Merc's neck.

"I can take pictures too." Mary Jane said.

"They're not as good as his." Merc said, leaning her head to the side to give Johnny more space. Mary Jane pretended to be insulted but she smiled and handed the camera over to Peter.

* * *

Alright more shortness, I have a few ideas for the next chapter which I think will be the last one, sort of like an epilogue. I will not be doing another story, even if there's a high demand for one. I learned from my Pirates and Harry Potter trilogies that the third story is never as popular as the first two.

And I know this little wedding bit probably wasn't as great as everyone wanted but really, if I turned it into something big, we all know Merc wouldn't have gone for it.


End file.
